


Babylon

by Ariana (ariana_paris)



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Episode: s05e24 Empok Nor, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1997-09-09
Updated: 1997-09-09
Packaged: 2019-02-28 06:18:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13265496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariana_paris/pseuds/Ariana
Summary: All hell breaks loose on the station as, gradually, communications systems and universal translators fall victim to some mysterious epidemic.





	1. Chapter 1

"Despite all you may have heard to the contrary, the rain in Spain stays almost invariably in the hills."  
\- Flanders and Swann, "At the drop of a hat"

i.

<Is this my tricorder? -- No, it is not your tricorder, it is my tricorder.>

"Iss sis mai taikoda," she repeated. "No itsis no you taikoda, itsis mai taikoda."

<Please repeat once more. 'Is this my tricorder? -- No, it is not your tricorder, it is my tricorder'.>

"Oh, this is *stupid*," she swore at the computer. It paid no attention to her, and just waited patiently for her to repeat the sentence.

She felt profoundly silly, sitting there parroting inane remarks about household objects and the rain habits of the plains in Spain. She didn't even know where the Spain was, or even if it was a geographical region at all. Maybe it was just something they had made up to annoy her because she couldn't pronounce it the same way as the computer.

Anyway, she was only doing all this to please Sisko. He had been making a sterling effort to learn the liturgical Bajoran he was supposed to speak as Emissary, and he had suggested, as she tutored him in the ancient language she barely knew herself, that it might be worth her while to learn Standard. After all, Bajor would eventually join the Federation, Sisko's visions earlier that year notwithstanding, and then they would be in need of someone who could serve as an advisor on Federation matters to whomever got to be ambassador to Terra. She complied with his request, but it seemed a little unnecessary when the universal translators were so efficient. Both the Federation and the Cardassians had been wise enough to rig the translators up to the same power supply as the gravity generators; those were always the last things that failed in case of emergency. Clever design.

Her door bell chimed and she turned off the terminal with relief. At least this gave her an excuse to ignore the lessons for a while... say a few weeks.

"Come," she ordered.

She was curious to know who was coming to see her on her day off, as it was too early for it to be Ziyal. They were supposed to go to the Temple together that afternoon, but it was still lunch-time, and she knew the girl would be eating with Garak, as usual.

"Odo," she said as the door swished open. She definitely hadn't expected to see him. Ever since he had found the courage to admit his long-time love for her, albeit under rather forced circumstances, their relationship had become more strained. They were still friends, but she felt she couldn't confide in him as she had once done, and they had been spending less time together than in the past.

"I was just passing by," he explained hesitantly. "...I hope I'm not interrupting?"

She shook her head and grinned.

"Not really. To tell you the truth, I was trying to learn a little Federation Standard... but I wasn't making much progress," she admitted.

"Ah yes, that language they call 'Anklish'," he said thoughtfully.

"'English'," she corrected. "It's a terrible language."

He nodded knowingly, and she wondered if he too had considered learning Standard at some point. He looked for a moment as if he didn't know what to say next, but then made up his mind, and asked, "Do you have any plans for lunch?"

"No, I don't," she answered. In fact, she had planned to order a plate of hasperat from the replicator and curl up on the sofa to enjoy it. But she was ready to change her plans if he had a better idea.

"Would you mind if I joined you? We could go to the replimat," he suggested.

"Why not?"

The replimat wouldn't be the most exciting place to eat, but Kira thought it would be a bit better than eating alone in her quarters. It would also be an opportunity to be with Odo again; she missed their past friendship and hoped they might be able to recapture some of their closeness now the shock of his revelation was over. But though she was conscious of his affection, she was still hesitant about actually pursuing a romantic relationship with him. Much as she had always liked him as a friend, she was not sure if she wanted him as a lover.

It was her experience that former lovers did not make good friends; the coolness of her current relationship with Shakaar was proof of that. If she did become involved with Odo, there was the risk she would lose his friendship if the romance didn't work out. She was also a little frightened at the intensity of the love Odo was offering her. While she harboured only feelings of friendship for him, he had been in love with her for years, and that passion had even driven his future self to sacrifice a whole community just to save her life. Though she had no reason to blame the present Odo for what his 200 year older counterpart had done, and though there was no evidence to suggest those people were not still alive in an alternate timeline, she could not help but hesitate. And there was another reason holding her back, albeit one she was barely willing to admit to herself. All her lovers so far had been Bajorans, and she found it difficult to imagine herself in the arms of an alien.

"So, has anything interesting happened since yesterday?" she asked conversationally as they walked along the corridor.

"Not really. Doctor Bashir is returning from his conference on Marina Prime today, and General Martok sent a message to say his troops will be back on the station in a week's time."

"I'm sure they're having a good time doing battle drills in the Deltived asteroid belt."

"Yes, I'm sure they are. Though I fail to see how shooting asteroids is going to prepare them for a Dominion invasion."

"Some Klingon thing, no doubt."

The replimat was bustling with activity, as could be expected considering the hour. Kira ordered the plate of hasperat she had been looking forward to earlier and then made her way to an empty table Odo had found at the back of the restaurant. She nodded politely at Garak and Ziyal as she passed them. They were just finishing their own meal and were currently engaged in an impassioned discussion about something or other. Though she didn't like Garak personally, Kira approved of the fact he spent so much time teaching Ziyal about her Cardassian heritage.

Seeing Ziyal reminded her of a topic she wanted to ask Odo about.

"Is there any news about those Cardassian ships?" she asked.

"No, there hasn't been anything new since yesterday, but Starfleet intelligence is still expecting them to come back from the Gamma Quadrant some time this week."

"I wonder why Dukat suddenly needed to go to the Dominion," she said thoughtfully.

"My people are probably reminding him who is in charge in their alliance. It would make sense for them to keep him on a short leash."

"They'd need to keep him in a cage," she remarked wryly.

"Or maybe he went there to give them information," he suggested. "If they wanted to know more about the station, with a view to attacking it, he would be the best person to ask. Even given the changes the Federation have made, Dukat still has an excellent knowledge of the station's structure and basic systems."

Kira sighed. The idea of Dukat sharing his intimate knowledge of the station with the Dominion was daunting to say the least.

ii.

Bashir carefully manoeuvred his runabout out of the flight path of the transport ship leaving the station, and landed on the launching pad he had left from two weeks earlier. It was a dratted nuisance that the communications on the runabout had stopped working shortly after he left Marina Prime. As it turned out, the computer had no difficulty homing in on its proper pad, but the doctor really felt he could have done without the excitement of approaching the station without being able to warn them he was coming. Still, they probably worked it out from the message he had sent before leaving the symposium.

He was greeted by a couple of engineers when he came out of the shuttle, presumably because his silence had alerted them to his technical problems. He left them to repair the ship and after a quick stop at his quarters to drop off his bag, he headed to get some lunch at the replimat. He had just settled down with his plate of Basque piperade when a very familiar voice greeted him.

"Good afternoon, doctor, may I join you?"

Bashir looked up and smiled.

"Of course," he said, indicating the seat opposite him.

"It has been a while since we ate together," said Garak pleasantly, sitting down even though he had already eaten.

It was true enough that they spent far less time together these days; both had other friends and interests, and their lunches, which had once been weekly, had dwindled down to occasional, spur of the moment meals when neither had anyone else to eat with. The doctor missed this opportunity to interact with an intelligent and intriguing companion, but he presumed the Cardassian had better things to do with his time. Entertaining or educating Tora Ziyal, for instance.

"So, what have you been up to the last couple of weeks?" asked Garak, laying his hands flat on the table since he had no food or drink with which to occupy them.

Bashir was pleased to think he had been missed, and also impatient to tell someone about his symposium, so he proceeded to answer Garak's question before he had even finished his current mouthful.

"I was at a conference on Marina Prime. It was amazing," he said. "One of the most interesting symposiums I have ever been to, in fact."

"I seem to recall you saying something similar about that trip to Vulcan last year, doctor," said Garak, allowing some of his amusement to show on his face.

"Yes, but this was really special," insisted Bashir. "Doctor Crusher's lecture on nanites was absolutely mesmerising! They even had a Romulan defector there, a Professor Kebor. I had a most enlightening conversation with him."

Garak allowed himself a fond smile. At nearly thirty-three, and in spite of everything that had happened to him in the past years, Doctor Bashir conserved something of the enthusiasm of a teenager. It was quite remarkable how unaffected he seemed after all he had been through, from the public revelation of his genetic enhancement to his imprisonment by the Founders. Maybe this undying optimism was a fact deserving a study all of its own. Perhaps he would even consider writing one himself; goodness knows he had had plenty of opportunity to study the young man over the past five years. Fewer opportunities recently, it had to be said, but then Garak was not the sort to pursue a hopeless dream forever, and had come to accept the infrequency of his lunches with the doctor as an inevitable consequence of his association with Ziyal.

"Nanites?" he prompted. He had heard of the things before, but had never given them much thought.

"Yes, they are microscopic robotic devices which are sometimes used in nanosurgery. Most of them are just machines, but there are now populations of sentient nanites; in fact, Doctor Crusher's son was their creator. They were even granted colonisation rights on Kavis Alpha IV."

Garak was puzzled by Bashir's last sentence. It was quite incomprehensible, as if the human had suddenly started speaking gibberish. It took Garak a moment to realise he had actually heard the sentence in Federation Standard.

"Pardon?" he prompted.

Now it was the doctor who looked puzzled. "I said, Doctor Crusher's son was the one who created the sentient nanites."

"I see," said the tailor. He was a little disquieted by the brief miscommunication and though it didn't happen again, it distracted him from paying full attention to Bashir's blow by blow account of the conference. He wondered if the doctor was suffering from that aphasia disease that had once affected the station's population, or if it was some new weird and wonderful ailment he had brought back with him from Marina Prime. The doctor was always studying some new, as yet unheard of disease. If Starfleet Medical followed its traditional custom of naming diseases after the physicians who discovered them, there would be least a dozen ailments with names like "Bashir's syndrome", or "Bashir's disease". Pity the poor medical students who would have to distinguish between them all.

"Garak," said the doctor, pausing in his description with a concerned look on his face. "Am I boring you?"

The Cardassian smiled and drew his mind away from its medical considerations.

"I am sorry, doctor," he apologised sincerely. He paused, and then continued, "I'm sure your conference was quite fascinating, but I believe a symposium on the practical uses of modern replicated textiles would have provided even more entertainment. In fact, I'm thinking about organising one myself. Do you know that it is now possible to replicate Tholian silk which is very nearly identical to the real thing? Of course, a true professional can tell the difference immediately; the Tholians' weaving technique is a closely guarded secret a replicator cannot fathom. But I believe that such a subject alone would be worthy of a whole day of presentations by the Quadrant's top tailors."

Bashir leant his chin on his hand and gazed at him, his dark eyes bright with amusement. "Be sure to invite me," he said softly.

"Why, of course, doctor," answered Garak, leaning forward slightly. "You would be first on my list."

"Because I'm such a snappy dresser?" joked Bashir, looking down at his black and grey uniform.

"Precisely. You would be the high point of the fashion show."

"You would have a fashion show?"

"Of course. Can't you just see it? I could have the whole crew of the station showing off my latest creations. Commander Dax would look quite striking in a lamé evening dress, don't you think? People would flock from all over the Quadrant, all dying to see the high point of fashion that is Deep Space Nine." His eyes involuntarily focused on Major Kira's garish red uniform as she passed with Ziyal.

Bashir grinned and looked at him rather affectionately. "You could go on for hours like this, couldn't you?"

Garak pretended to be offended that Bashir wasn't taking him seriously, but in fact he was delighted. He had never realised how much he missed the opportunity to tease the doctor.

iii.

"So, how did your trip to Marina Prime go, doctor?" asked Sisko pleasantly when Bashir came to see his Starfleet colleagues in Ops later that afternoon.

"Very well," said the doctor, pleased to have another opportunity to tell someone about the conference. "Doctor Crusher's presentation on nanites was riveting. They even had some demonstrations under a microscope. It is quite amazing what those robots can do."

It had obviously been a rather peaceful day; it seemed as if they were actually looking forward to hearing his story. Only O'Brien was busy elsewhere, presumably repairing the communications on the runabout.

"Aren't nanites sentient?" asked Dax.

"Not all of them," explained Bashir, trying hard not to imagine just how striking the Trill would look in a lamé evening dress. "Only the ones on Kavis Alpha IV, and they apparently didn't want to send a delegation."

"That is perhaps fortunate," said Worf. "They can be quite... destructive when they are angered. We had a rather unfortunate encounter with them on the Enterprise."

"I must say, you lived very exciting lives on the Enterprise," remarked Dax with a twinkle in her eye. Worf just glared at her.

"Is that true, chief?" asked Bashir as O'Brien came off one of the turbolifts and walked over to join them.

"Oh, yes. Those were exciting times, all right. I don't mind if I never meet a nanite ever again," said O'Brien.

Sisko looked a little more serious and turned towards the chief of operations. "Any progress on that communications failure, chief?" he asked.

"Not yet, but I have a team working on it," responded O'Brien. "It only affected the conduit from the runabout pad, anyway. We'll just replace it and there will be no problem. The runabout's communications system is working again, so it doesn't look like anything serious."

"Good," nodded Sisko. "Now, I have some news from the Gamma Quadrant. It seems that the ships which crossed through a week ago will be returning shortly. The Cardassian flagship Vejal should pass by the station with its Jem'Hadar escort ships tomorrow evening. We're not expecting any trouble, but we'll have the station on alert when they do come out of the Wormhole."

The commlink chirped before he could expand on this information.

"Infirmary to Doctor Bashir," said the voice of Nurse Jabara.

"Bashir, here," said the doctor.

"Weheb val tashik ni doran tal meranasok."

"Pardon?" said Bashir, exchanging a mystified look with his colleagues. "What did you say?"

"Those test results you were expecting are ready, doctor."

"Right, I'm on my way," he said, immediately heading for the lift.

"Now that was strange," said Dax.

iv.

Quark's bar was just beginning to fill up with the early evening crowd. Morn was already on his seat at the bar, telling one of the new Dabo girls all about his seventeen siblings back home. Quark was mentally calculating how much latinum he could hope to make tonight based on the number of customers already there and a statistical review of the year's trend to date. Dax and Worf were having a quiet un-Klingon drink in a corner. And Jake was leaning on the banister on the upper level, observing the bar and waiting for something interesting to happen.

It looked like this was going to be another quiet evening. There was no new material here -- he had already observed and taken notes on Dax, Worf, Morn, Quark and all the Dabo girls... especially the Dabo girls. He sighed and wondered if he should go back to his quarters and play some loud music while he waited for inspiration. But it occurred to him that his flatmate Nog wouldn't be very keen on that idea; his ears were too sensitive. One of the many disadvantages of living with a Ferengi.

Fortunately, someone came in who distracted him from his musings. He watched as Ziyal climbed up the stairs with a padd in her hand and settled at a table quite near him. She nodded to acknowledge his presence and he smiled politely. She looked away and rather self-consciously started to read her padd. Jake realised as he watched her that he had never really bothered to take notes on her. But then he didn't know her all that well, never having exchanged more than a couple of words with her.

He had heard all about her family history, or at least what was common knowledge -- that she was Gul Dukat's daughter by a Bajoran woman named Tora Naprem. He remembered thinking at the time that it was a very generous move on Major Kira's part to take care of Ziyal, especially considering the major's feelings for her father. He found himself wondering what it would be like to be a half-Cardassian on a Bajoran station. And as his writer's mind thought about that, he came to the conclusion that it must be quite difficult for her, especially if she had lived on Cardassia for a while. It was no wonder she spent so much time with Garak.

He couldn't help appraising her from an aesthetic point of view, as well. After all, she was a young woman, and only a couple of years older than him. He wouldn't have called her pretty by any account, but then, it was difficult for him to see beyond the ashen grey colour and knobbly patterns of her skin. From what he had seen of her, she had a rather nice smile, and her figure was definitely good. He castigated himself mentally for viewing her in such a simplistic way. Maybe Nog's view of women was rubbing off on him.

The arrival of Ziyal's fiancé cut Jake's sexist observations short. At least, he presumed Garak was her fiancé. The adoring look on Ziyal's face as she saw the Cardassian approach certainly seemed to confirm this, but Jake was a little curious as to the tremendous age difference between the two and what problems that would create for their relationship. He theorised that Ziyal was possibly suffering from an Electra complex, and made a mental note to add that to his psychological profile of her. Not that he knew how old Garak was, and he was sure that didn't matter as long as they loved each other.

"Garak," said Ziyal gently.

"Ziyal," he responded with a nod. "Eyšu yelevet, šeru?"

She proceeded to respond to his question, whatever it was, and Jake stared at them for a while, a little puzzled by what he had heard. The environmental translator should have picked that up.

Noticing that O'Brien had come in downstairs, Jake went down to tell him about this strange occurrence. The chief was leaning at the bar with one of his non-com colleagues when he saw Jake.

"Hiya, Jake," he said pleasantly. "You know Hans Wuppenthaler," he added, indicating the other man. "Hans, this is Jake Sisko."

Wuppenthaler and Jake shook hands and exchanged some pleased to meet you's.

"What do you want to drink, Jake?" offered the chief.

"Oh I'm all right... Chief, the weirdest thing just happened when I was upstairs," started the young man, but he was interrupted as O'Brien noticed Quark wasn't making the slightest effort to get the synthales he had ordered earlier.

"Hey, Quark. While we're still young," called out the chief.

"Yeah, yeah. They're coming," promised the Ferengi.

"So what happened?" asked O'Brien, turning to Jake again.

The young man was about to tell him when they both overheard Quark ordering the synthales from the replicator.

"Arevi sintaled torad lopal," the Ferengi told the machine.

The replicator produced something that looked like a plate of dead Klingon gagh.

"Mintal nor koval?" exclaimed Quark, staring at the plate with obvious disgust.

"What's going on here?" echoed O'Brien rhetorically.

"Keine Ahnung," said Wuppenthaler. "Vielleicht funktioniert sein Übersetzer nicht mehr."

"What?"

"Vot 'vot'?"

"What did you just say?"

"I say ze translator iss not verking," explained Wuppenthaler, realising he had to switch to Standard.

"You're telling me," said O'Brien.

"That's what happened upstairs," interjected Jake, "only it didn't last very long."

"Is something wrong?" asked a voice behind them.

Jake turned towards the voice and found Garak standing beside him, with Ziyal hovering nearby.

"The universal translator seems to be down," he said, before it occurred to him Garak had sounded pretty fluent in Standard.

"Yes, it was, but it seems to be working again," remarked the Cardassian.

"What happened?" asked Ziyal.

"I... I'm not sure, but we'll get it under control soon," said O'Brien, unwilling to confess to any incompetence in front of the station's resident Cardie, regardless of whether Sisko considered him an ally or not.

Dax and Worf also came over to join them.

"What is happening?" asked the Klingon.

"The universal translator stopped working for a moment, but it's back again now," explained Wuppenthaler.

"Obviously," said Worf, looking over the assorted humans, Cardassians, Bajorans and Ferengi.

"Perhaps there is a malfunction in the communications relay that connects the translator to the sensor input," suggested Dax.

"Das wäre möglich," agreed Wuppenthaler.

"Afsamru afs šûlsal, chir deydido ayal, ja kardasich gekhnacu," protested Garak, who did not think his people would have designed the station so badly.

"va! Do'Ha'bej," growled Worf.

O'Brien sighed.

"Yes, and same to you with knobs on," he muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, it gets so lonely  
When you're walking  
And the streets are full of strangers   
All the news of home you read   
Just gives you the blues"  
\-- Joni Mitchell - "California"

v.

The translators continued to go on and off all evening, and Sisko was forced to call an emergency meeting of the senior staff at 1900. By then the translators in Ops weren't working at all. The Starfleet and Bajoran officers had to wait, standing or sitting around Ops while O'Brien, Dax, Wuppenthaler and two more Starfleet engineers fought to get the universal translator to work again, even for a few minutes.

^Odo,^ said Kira in Bajoran as she watched O'Brien's team. ^I wonder if there's anyone on the station who can speak Bajoran and Standard. Someone who could serve as an interpreter if this doesn't work.^

Odo could not think of anyone on the Bajoran staff who could speak both languages, but he said, ^I'll try to find out after the meeting.^

^In the meantime, it looks like I'll have to try and get through that Standard course after all.^

^I would have thought it was up to them to learn Bajoran. After all, they are in Bajoran space.^

She noticed Sisko was looking at them, so she smiled reassuringly at him.

<Do you understand any of what they're saying, captain?> asked Bashir in his soft British English.

<Only a few words here and there,> said Sisko. <I'm not sure of the context, though. It sounds as if they're talking about taking lessons or something. It's a word that appears in the prophecies.>

<Does Jake hunderstand hany Bajoran?> asked Dax, struggling with her Trill-accented Standard as she tried to repair a relay under the Science station. It wasn't an illogical assumption, considering Jake had been quite young when he first arrived on the station, and had gone to school with Bajoran children for a while.

<He does,> answered Sisko. <In fact, he has even been helping me rehearse my Bajoran. But it might be worthwhile to see if any of the Starfleet personnel could serve as interpreters, too. Commander,> he said to Worf, <could you have a look through the Starfleet personnel files later and see if there's anyone who can speak Standard and Bajoran?>

<Yes, sir,> said Worf.

Sisko noticed the Klingon was looking a little shifty eyed, and asked him, <Is everything all right?>

Worf sighed and looked as embarrassed as his stoic personality would allow.

<I am a little... concerned about what language to speak. I prefer to speak Klingonese rather than Standard when the translators work.>

Dax lifted her eyes from her work and gave him a bright look.

[That makes two of us,] she said in Klingonese.

He nearly smiled at her. He was very proud to have a par'machi who spoke his language with such a sweet foreign accent.

Sisko nodded. <I quite understand. But at least you *can* speak Standard, which is unfortunately not the case for my first officer.>

He turned and smiled politely at Kira again before walking over to where O'Brien's team was working to restore communications.

<How are things coming along, chief?>

<The circuits look as if they are being reconfigured before our very eyes,> complained the Irishman.

<Any idea what is causing this?>

<It is like to a hinfection,> explained Dax, coming over to give her appraisal of the situation. <Little things heat the circuits.>

<Yes, like Dax said, it's as if little things were after eating the circuits,> agreed O'Brien.

<Like nanites?> suggested Bashir.

<You have nanites on the brain,> said O'Brien teasingly, before becoming more serious as he considered the problem. <But if they're nanites, they're sure as Hell nothing like the ones we had on the Enterprise. However, I think we can by-pass the affected areas and get at least one translator to work for a while... Oh, sugar!> he swore as something sparked in front of him.

<Hier is a circuit ve can try,> said Wuppenthaler, handing him a small circuit board.

<All right, let's see if this will work...>

He snapped the board into place among the other ones.

"We won't know if it's working until we actually start talking," he said.

"It *is* working," exclaimed Dax, switching gratefully into her own dialect.

"How long will it last?" said Kira, coming over to them.

"Five, ten minutes. The speed at which this thing is spreading, I can't be sure. It'll only translate in this part of Ops, too, within the confines of these sensors," said O'Brien, pointing at some spots in the floor and ceiling that no one else had noticed before.

"Well," said Sisko with a sigh. "We'd better not waste any time, then. Chief, can you just give us a brief summary of the technical situation?"

"We're not quite sure what is causing the problem, sir. It might be nanites, as Julian suggested, but in that case, they've pretty much overrun the station by now. At any rate, they seem to be concentrating only on our communications devices -- we've lost universal translators and internal and external communications, but life-support, weapons, sensors and all computer functions not related to translation or voice commands are still working."

Sisko turned towards Kira and Odo.

"I think the main problem we are facing for the moment is communication between Federation and Bajoran staff. Until we can sort out the technical side, we will have to look for someone to translate for us. We'll see if anyone in the Federation staff can speak enough Bajoran; I'd like you to see if you find a Bajoran who speaks some Standard, or at worst, Klingonese or Trill, anything that would allow us to get urgent messages through."

"Yes, there must be *someone* who can help us," said Kira.

"The trouble is, most people are so used to having a universal translator, they just never bother to learn another language," remarked Dax.

"Can't we use writing?" suggested Odo.

"That's right," said Bashir. "Wouldn't the computer be able to translate texts even if it can't translate speech?"

O'Brien shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it still uses the same parsing engine to do the translation, and that's one of the devices that's stopped working." He paused thoughtfully, and then added, "but I could always see if there are any schematics for a text-based translation engine. Those things have been around for centuries; it should be possible to adapt one to get word for word Bajoran/Standard translations. We're bound to have a dictionary somewhere in our databanks. But it won't do a very good job."

"Captain, you read ancient Bajoran quite well," remarked Kira. "Perhaps we could use writing to communicate. I think it's easier to understand writing rather than speech."

"Yes, but being able to decipher a language with the help of a computer isn't the same as being able to read it," said Sisko. "I suppose we could try that if the worst comes to the worst... but does either of you speak Standard?"

Kira looked uncertain. "I can make out the letters, yes, but I guess I've always relied on the computer to help sort out the meaning."

"I must say, it's quite an eye-opener," stated Odo. "It makes you realise just how much you rely on these machines in a place like this."

Sisko sighed and placed his fingers on his forehead. All this was giving him a headache. "Major, there are currently more Bajorans on the station than Starfleet personnel. If this situation persists, I think it would be easier for you to take over."

"We'll see if that's necessary," she said, obviously not very keen on the idea.

"If this lasts any longer than one or two days, it will be," he said, raising his non-existent eyebrows. "After all, the Cardassian flagship will be coming through the Wormhole tomorrow evening..."

She sighed in utter irritation.

"So I heard... I don't believe this! Here we are at our weakest, and we're going to have *Gul Dukat* sailing past us. This has got be the worst luck! He is bound to notice we have lost our communications."

"I doubt Dukat will want to visit the station after what happened last time," said Sisko. He wasn't sure what *had* happened last time, except it was one of the mysteries of Kira's relationship with Dukat.

Kira just nodded, though she didn't feel somehow that throwing a cup at the bastard would be enough to encourage him to stay away.

"He won't be able to communicate with the station anyway," remarked Dax with a smile. "And even if he does beam in, he might find it difficult to pontificate without a translator."

"He speaks Bajoran," said Kira shortly.

Odo nodded; he had been about to tell them that, too.

"Why do you all assume Dukat would be foolish enough to beam aboard?" asked Bashir. "Captain Sisko is right. He has no reason to come."

"What? A chance to show off his Bajoran to me again?" snapped Kira. Sisko noticed the 'again'. "Have you ever known Dukat to pass up a chance to visit the station? Every time the bastard comes within seven light-years of Deep Space Nine, he beams aboard to annoy us."

"He might know Bajoran, but he won't be able to communicate with the Dominion anymore if he comes here," said Odo.

Kira turned to him with a delighted smile. Now that was a brilliant thought.

"In the meantime, I'm sure he would be very pleased to know we're wasting our precious time of translation talking about him," pointed out Dax.

"That's quite true," agreed Sisko. "Major, I would like you to brief the Bajoran staff about the current situation. Set up patrols around the station to make up for the communicator failures, recruit some people to serve as couriers, and make sure the civilian population is kept informed. We will do the same with our Federation staff. Constable, Dax, I would like you both to identify exactly how many species we have on the station and what languages they speak. Have a look in the personnel files for anyone who can serve as interpreter, not only for Bajoran and Federation Standard, but for any of the other languages on the station." He had apparently forgotten he had given that assignment to Worf a moment earlier. "Jake might be able to help us, but I'd like to see if we can get a more permanent interpreter. Also, we might consider setting up representatives for each species so that we can reach as many people as possible as easily as possible in the event of an emergency," he continued, wracking his brains to think of as many possibilities as he could, <If this lasts any longer than a couple of days, or if...>

The expression on Kira's face made his voice trail off.

^Damn,^ she exclaimed. ^What is *wrong* with the stupid machines?^

Sisko raised his hands in helplessness and turned towards the Federation staff.

<Chief, is there any chance you could repair the translator again?>

O'Brien and Wuppenthaler were already on their knees trying to do just that, but the chief shook his head.

<No, we would basically have to replace the entire console, and we don't have enough spare parts. I suppose if we could get some from Bajor, we could probably rig something up,> he said thoughtfully.

<Well, you know what you'll be doing for the next day or so,> stated Sisko reasonably.

vi.

Though the station was in turmoil over the intermittent translator failures, Garak and Ziyal decided to continue with their original plans for the evening. So, after dinner, they went to the holosuite for a visit around the Hebetian ruins. Their beauty never ceased to amaze the young woman, and she was very proud her distant ancestors had created such delightful works of art.

Garak leant against a column and watched her wander around, quite lost in her thoughts of all the noble ladies and gentlemen who had once lived there. He had never had much time for history or archaeology in his life, but now that he was Ziyal's instructor in all matters Cardassian, he was brought to rediscover the beauty of his own civilisation, forced to study his own history more thoroughly so that he could be one step ahead of her learning at all times, and provide her with the best information.

Though it was obvious he meant more to her than that, he saw himself primarily as Ziyal's tutor and her as his pupil. He considered that Fate had entrusted this young woman to him to be educated in the ways of her Cardassian blood. And given that her own father probably couldn't educate a goat if it came with instructions, Fate had made a very wise choice in guiding her to him.

Not that he believed in Fate, of course. This was just a most fortunate coincidence, one which not only relieved the crushing loneliness he had laboured under since his exile, but also provided him with possible leverage against a very old enemy. Much as he liked Ziyal, and he certainly did like her, he knew that, given a choice between conserving her friendship and murdering her father, he would choose the second option every time. In the meantime, however, she was pleasant company and he was keen to make her happy.

Having strayed into a cul-de-sac in the ruins, Ziyal turned back and came towards him again. He looked her over admiringly, the holosuite's optical illusion of distance giving him a view on her entire person as she approached. The light blue dress she was wearing was remarkably becoming, and he was quite pleased with the effect produced by using Melorian silk on the cutaways of the bodice. He complimented himself on his good judgement, as that bolt of Terran silk just wouldn't have done the pattern justice. Its colour had been a little too bright; contrasted with Ziyal's pale complexion, it would have appeared unduly garish. He was also delighted to find modifying the cut of the skirt made it flow more nicely when Ziyal walked. All in all, an excellent piece of work, and one he had rather enjoyed making, even if Ziyal did relish his taking her measurements a little too much.

He had been very embarrassed that she was so willing to appear before him in a shift. Evidently, his efforts at treating her as a child had not succeeded in making her into one, and she had looked rather as if she were hoping he would take advantage of her state of undress. Something he would never have done, of course, even if he were interested, which he was not. As it was, a determined display of professionalism had got her measured and safely back into her clothes without further embarrassment for either of them, and they had returned to their uncomplicated teacher-pupil relationship once more.

The incident did make him aware of the fact Ziyal's affection for him was going well beyond mere friendship or admiration. She was in love with him. And he could quite understand how that had happened -- given her age and circumstances, and a friendly middle-aged Cardassian as a self-appointed tutor, he would have fallen in love with him too. But no amount of understanding would ease the discomfort he felt at this situation.

Ziyal was not surprised to find he was observing the details of her dress as she approached. For someone who was purportedly a tailor by necessity rather than taste, he certainly did an excellent impression of a dedicated dress-maker, and obviously took great pride in his creations. In fact, she sometimes wondered if he didn't just put up with her because she was the best, indeed the only, model for his Cardassian designs. But of course, she knew that wasn't true. She was sure he sincerely liked her, and, she hoped, might even be convinced to love her, provided she made her own feelings clear.

"Are you just going to stand there?" she asked teasingly, offering him her arm. "Or shall we go for a walk together?"

"Certainly," he responded.

As they walked through the ruins, her mind came back to her affection for him and how to make it clear. By Cardassian tradition, it was the woman who had to make the first open move when a man interested her. The only problem Ziyal had with that was that she had absolutely no idea how to make the first move with Garak. Cardassians under normal circumstances would have engaged in some teasing and flirting, following which the woman could propose to pursue a relationship or not, depending on the outcome of the preliminary stage. But Ziyal didn't know how to flirt with a man twice her age. In fact, she didn't know how to flirt with anyone, Cardassian or otherwise.

Her only non-theoretical knowledge came from observation, and that wasn't much help. The couples she had been able to study most recently projected an image of loving bliss which did not fit her ideals of passion at all.

The O'Briens were pleasant enough people, but she really didn't see how Keiko could work up any kind of romantic enthusiasm for Miles. Nerys and Edon's relationship had struck her as slightly more passionate, but she found the First Minister unbearably dull, and this seemed to rub off on Nerys whenever they were together. Anyway, they were separated now, and it seemed as though Nerys was considering a relationship with Odo. The major had told her about his forced declaration of love, but Ziyal was not convinced they would make such a good couple. There were Worf and Dax, of course, but she didn't know them so well, and had never as yet seen any ostensible hint that they were more than colleagues. Then again, she couldn't see what Dax saw in Worf, either.

She had to think back to her childhood and the memories of her parents to find an image of love closer to her ideals, but she was reluctant to think about those days. Memories of either of her parents were liable to depress her. Her dreams were still haunted by the image of the bright red blood that had seeped through her mother's dress in the crashed Ravinok, and as to her father...

It was worse thinking about him, knowing he was still alive and that he didn't love her or care what happened to her anymore. Some time this week, he would be returning from the Gamma Quadrant, and sailing by as impervious to her presence on the station as ever.

There had been a time, before her mother died and her father abandoned her, when she had believed they were the happiest couple in the universe. She had hoped she would some day meet a handsome and caring man, and be as happy with him as her mother was with her father. Eventually, her mother had told her she had six half-brothers and sisters on Cardassia - there were seven now - but even then, she had always believed her father loved her best of all. But she must have been mistaken.

She dismissed this depressing train of thought.

"The view is quite beautiful from here, isn't it? Computer, make it evening," she ordered, taking pleasure in the God-like powers the holosuite bestowed on its users.

The light went down and a sunset appeared to their right, colouring the ruins with a palette of reds and oranges and casting long shadows between their columns. But Ziyal did not look at the view; her eyes were fixed on her companion's impassive face, so dignified and inscrutable in the distorted sunlight. She wouldn't even know where to start to get past that impenetrable gaze, and could only wonder how many had succeeded, if any at all. Perhaps he had had many lovers, or perhaps that wasn't possible because of his work in the Obsidian Order. Either way, he was bound to know more about this than she did.

"Garak," she said softly, "do you like me?"

"Of course I do, my dear," he said calmly. Years of training ensured his confusion did not appear on his face, but he was filled with apprehension as he strove to make light of her question.

"I mean, do you think..." she started. "I know this isn't the way you're supposed to do things, but I... don't know the way you're supposed to do things."

Her remark was sufficiently vague for him to pretend he didn't know what she meant, though it was pretty obvious to him. However, actually playing dumb ran the risk she might get more specific, which would force him into acknowledging her feelings for him in some way, and he was hoping to delay that as much as possible. He just didn't like the idea of having to turn her down.

"Don't worry, my dear, I'm sure you will learn someday," he said airily. "What a remarkable idea to call for evening; the ruins are really quite striking in this light."

She wasn't going to be fobbed off so easily. Something in the way he was trying to change the subject suggested he knew what she was talking about. But just on the off-chance he didn't...

"Garak, I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he said, but in a tone which suggested fatherly affection rather than a romantic attachment.

She was disappointed. He must know she really meant what she said, and yet he wasn't taking her seriously. Fair enough. She could always try a more direct method.

Drawing herself up onto tiptoes to reach his face, she kissed him gently on the cheek. She would have aimed for his mouth, Bajoran-style, but that would have required either moving to stand before him, or somehow pulling his face around towards hers, both of which would have taken away the element of surprise. As it was, Garak was obviously surprised. So much so, in fact, that he nearly knocked her over as he reflexively pushed her away.

He caught her almost immediately, apologising for his over-reaction.

"Ziyal, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you like that. But a little warning would be nice before you go kissing old men without their permission!" he exclaimed good-naturedly.

"You're not old," she protested, her mind positively reeling with the shock of his rejection.

"Yes, I am," he said more seriously. "I'm old enough to be your father... in fact, I'm even older than your father."

Not much older, of course, but old enough to remember the slim youth who looked on, glassy-eyed and fists clenched, as his father was executed before his eyes. Garak had felt no pity for the young boy then, nothing but rage that those children were allowed to live when the blood of that traitor coursed through their veins. And how right he had been, too. Curse the Central Command's weakness in letting that woman divorce her husband when the whole lot of them should have followed him to his grave.

"Is it because of him?" she asked fearfully.

"No."

That was true enough. Much as he hated Dukat, he had no problem with her being his daughter; in his situation, he couldn't be particular about who he associated with. After all, for the first four years of his exile, the only person he had spent any meaningful length of time with had been the station's Terran doctor, so he was hardly going to complain about his only Cardassian companion. His mind lingered a while on the thought of Julian Bashir. It was a pity circumstances had drawn them apart when they had been doing so well. But there, no use regretting what could have been.

In the meantime, a romantic relationship with Ziyal was out of the question, and for reasons which had nothing to do with who she was. His problem was with *what* she was.

"Then why?" she insisted.

"You are beautiful and intelligent," he said, conscious that he had to soften the blow, "but you are so young. I don't think we should pursue a romantic relationship."

"You don't like me," she said mournfully.

"Yes I do. You are a sweet young lady... I sometimes wonder where you get it from," he couldn't help adding.

That brought a little smile to her lips. "That's what Father used to say," she said softly.

He was glad Dukat had the grace to recognise he and his lover had produced a remarkably charming little offspring.

"Well, for once, I must admit your father is right," he said.

"Was he right about you? About what you want?" she asked, her voice barely audible in the holosuite breeze.

He leant towards her, straining to hear what she said.

"About what?"

Her pale eyes looked up into his for a moment, her stare questioning and candid.

"That you don't like..." she started, before lowering her eyes again. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business," she said, walking slowly down towards where the holosuite door would appear.

He watched her go and wondered if he had understood her words correctly. His lack of interest for her sex wasn't common knowledge; when working for the Order, the less one revealed of one's true personality, the better. But perhaps he shouldn't be surprised that Dukat knew. They had, after all, known each other at a time when Garak was still a young man, not as skilled at hiding his feelings as he was now. As one of Jelabrin Macet's aides, he had spent quite a lot of time with his eldest children; maybe they had noticed his attitude was different. Or perhaps Dukat had made in-depth enquiries about him later on. Goodness knows. It was a secret, but any secret can be uncovered by a determined mind.

But that hardly mattered now.

He joined her at the door, and she sighed. He hadn't even tried to deny it. She had thought -- hoped -- that her father's throwaway reference to his enemy's sexuality was just brought on by hatred. But Dukat was not given to lying for no good reason, and Garak's silence just confirmed her fears. So much for her hopes.

Garak put his arm around her shoulder and she managed a wry smile as they left the holosuite and entered the multilingual cacophony of Quark's bar.


	3. Chapter 3

"Speech was given to man to disguise his thoughts."  
\-- Talleyrand (1754-1838), French politician

vii.

It was only when she entered Quark's later that evening that the full implications of the translator failures really struck Kira. The place was a pandemonium of different languages, where the soft sounds of Lissepian and Standard combined with the harsher tones of occasional Klingon or Zeppelite. But the main languages she heard were Kardasi and Bajoran, evidently established as the linguae-francae of the station. At least those were two languages she knew very well.

^I hope Dax and O'Brien will get the problem sorted out soon,^ she told Odo as they went up to the bar. Neither of them had the technical knowledge to help solve the problem, so Sisko had asked them to put in a presence on the Promenade to reassure the station's population. Kira was a lot more comfortable in Odo's company now that they had a mission to fulfil.

^Yes,^ agreed the Constable. ^Preferably before Dukat comes through the Wormhole tomorrow evening.^

They were surprised to find Leeta was serving behind the bar.

^What can I get you?^ she asked them.

Odo indicated he wasn't having anything, though Leeta probably already knew that.

^I'll have a spring wine,^ said Kira. ^I didn't expect you to be running the bar. I thought you didn't get on too well with Quark.^

^I don't. But all the Ferengi are in the Infirmary with headaches. Poor Rom had a terrible migraine and it made him really cross,^ she twittered.

^I'm sure it did,^ growled Odo.

^Anyway, with the universal translators down and all,^ prattled the girl, ^I guess Quark figured he was better off getting some Bajorans to run the bar. So he asked me to get some of my friends in to help while he and the other Ferengi went to get their heads checked by Julian.^

Kira *really* liked the idea of the Ferengi 'getting their heads checked' by Doctor Bashir.

^Rom speaks really good Bajoran, you know,^ continued Leeta as she finally poured Kira her wine. ^He has just the *cutest* Ferengi accent. If the headache hadn't made him so cross, it would have been absolutely *adorable*.^

^And Quark agreed to let you run the bar?^ said Odo, while Kira guffawed. Odo sounded as if he thought even Quark didn't deserve that.

^Oh yes. He said he didn't want to lose any profit.^

^No, I'm sure he doesn't,^ grumbled Odo.

^Oh, speak of the devil,^ said Kira, pointing to the door, where Quark had just come in. The Ferengi smiled rather amicably at them as he joined his future sister-in-law behind the bar.

^I better now. You stay, Leeta, I need you more,^ he said in heavily-accented Bajoran, emphasising his point with a wave of his hands. #Blasted translators,# he swore in Ferengi, rubbing his ears.

^What happened to you, anyway?^ asked the major.

Quark bared his needle teeth at her in an ingratiating smile.

^You not worry. Federation doctor fix it fine. Is translators in ears,^ he explained, pointing to one of his sizeable lobes. ^Zey not work and hurt a lot.^

"Doctor Bashir must be having a difficult time, too," remarked Odo. "I wonder if he speaks enough Bajoran to talk to his nurses."

"Hey, the environmental translator is working again," said Quark delightedly. "Let's just hope it stays that way. Come on, ladies and gentlemen," he called out. "The translators are back, and so am I, so step right up and order your drinks now."

The non-Bajoran customers did just as they were told. After spending the last hour or so trying to get the right drink out of Leeta, they were all anxious to get in their orders before the translators failed again.

"I hope it stays this way, too," said Kira as she accompanied Odo to a free table behind the icon staircase. "I don't know enough Standard to take orders from Sisko. If this continues much longer, I'll probably have to resign."

"Why should you resign?" asked Odo. "Sisko is right; it would be more logical for you to take over, since there are far more Bajorans than humans on the station. Also, if the translators go down completely, chances are you're not the only one Sisko won't be able to talk to. I'm not sure the Benzites or the Vulcans speak Standard."

^Of course they do,^ she exclaimed, her dark eyes pleated with mirth. ^Starfleet wouldn't be so stupid as to recruit people without making sure they all speak the same language.^

^Oh, I don't know about everyone speaking Standard,^ said Odo. ^They recruited Nog, after all, and he didn't speak any Standard. He's learning it now, but he took the entrance exams in Ferengi.^

^Good point... I see the translators are off again.^

She looked around at the crowd, and noticed how the mishmash of foreign sounds seemed to give the familiar surroundings a very alien feel. She caught sight of Ziyal and Garak coming out of a holosuite at the back of the bar, and wondered briefly if Ziyal's Bajoran was any good, before dismissing the thought as particularly stupid. Of course Ziyal's Bajoran would be good. Even her father spoke good Bajoran. Excellent Bajoran, in fact. But her thoughts were given another direction when she noticed the expression on the girl's face. Garak looked his usual calm self, but Ziyal was visibly distraught.

She was about to get up and go to give the tailor a hard time, but Ziyal saw her and immediately regained her composure, smiling pleasantly as if to indicate that nothing was wrong. Kira still watched them suspiciously as they left.

^You know, I sometimes wonder what Garak is playing at with Ziyal,^ she remarked.

^Teaching her about Cardassian customs, isn't he?^ said Odo.

Kira's expression relaxed a little. ^I suppose so. She just looked... oh, never mind. I'm probably just imagining things. She's a grown woman, she can take care of herself. Anyway, we have more important things to think about, like what Dukat is going to do when he comes back from the Gamma Quadrant tomorrow.^

^Especially when he finds us deprived of translators and communications.^

Kira looked thoughtful. ^I don't like this at all,^ she said. ^Dukat's coming back from the Dominion tomorrow, and all of a sudden this station-wide systems failure. It can't be a coincidence.^

viii.

Despite working overnight, the engineering team had made no progress in restoring communications by the time the day lights switched on the next morning. In fact, if anything, the problem was worse. Kira spent a harrowing couple of hours trying to co-ordinate the departures of two of the three ships still docked at the station. Since there was no way to communicate with the ships, she had to send one of her lieutenants in a runabout to serve as a pilot ship, and then observe the manoeuvres via the viewscreen. Those two ships presented no signs of the infection, but the third one, a Zeppelite free trader transporting colza oil, was forced to stay at the station because it too had damaged communications. It was fortunate the ship was Zeppelite; at least Kira was able to explain the problem to the captain in Kardasi, much to the surprise of the Federation staff.

After exchanging much ineffectual sign language and key words of Bajoran and Standard with Sisko, Kira ordered one runabout to Bajor to inform them to reroute all vessels due to dock at DS9. Since all the runabouts suffered from the 'disease', the messengers were instructed to leave the vessel in orbit, beam down to the planet with maximum decontamination, and beam up again using a planetside transporter, there being no way to order the runabout to beam them back. Since Bajor was on the other side of the solar system at this time of year, the runabout would not return with the latest news until the middle of the night.

Odo and Dax briefed the Bajoran and Federation teams respectively on the subject of the different species and languages left on the station. Aside from the eight-man crew of the Zeppelite ship, there were 1276 Bajorans, 203 humans, 46 representatives of other Starfleet species, 10 Ferengi, and 52 members of other species, including people like Morn, Garak, Ziyal and most of Quark's Dabo girls. This meant that, even if one presumed all the Bajorans spoke Standard Bajoran, and all the humans and Starfleet personnel, Federation Standard, there were still over fifty different languages to take into account. But it was estimated most of the species local to the sector had at least a basic knowledge of Bajoran or Kardasi, as Kira had guessed the previous night. This meant the Starfleet personnel were the odd ones out.

In the meantime, the only available interpreter was Jake, and though his casual Bajoran was passable, he was having difficulties translating the technical vocabulary necessary to run the station. Routine operations in the command centre could be run adequately, since the majority of the senior staff were Federation and thus had few communications problems when it came to talking to each other. But as soon as they were in need of help from the lower ranks in science, engineering or security, the language barrier between themselves and the Bajoran majority became apparent. And poor Jake could not be everywhere at once.

Kira looked over to where O'Brien was explaining something to Dax. It was really strange to be sitting there, watching those familiar faces pronouncing unfamiliar sounds, her mind only capable of picking up the occasional word, never quite managing to make out the meaning of their speech. She could tell Dax didn't use the same sounds as O'Brien, and she found it had never occurred to her the Trill might not speak Standard fluently. Maybe she had, in another lifetime, but Kira knew universal translators had been around for nearly a century, so perhaps Dax had forgotten after all this time.

Her eyes wandered to where Jake was struggling to relay Wuppenthaler's description of some technical aspect of the communications circuit to one of the Bajoran engineering staff. As she watched the poor boy struggle, Kira wondered if she shouldn't indeed take over. By replacing the Starfleet officers with some temporarily appointed Bajoranophones, it would be possible to run the station more efficiently, particularly in the case of an emergency. Like the emergency they were going to be facing when Dukat came out of the Wormhole. She started to think about who she might appoint, but the very thought of trying to replace nearly all the senior staff gave her a headache.

She was distracted from her silent musings when the corner of her eye caught some movement on the turbolift behind her. She swung around to see who it was.

^Garak,^ she said with surprise, as the tailor approached with Odo.

The Cardassian smiled his usual cool, ingratiating smile.

^Odo told me you might need my services,^ he said. He had a pronounced Cardassian accent, but aside from that, his Bajoran was impeccable.

^You speak Federation?^ she asked, immediately understanding what services the former spy might provide.

He raised his hands as if to calm her down. ^Actually, major, my Federation isn't so good, but I do think I can understand enough to translate.^

^And he speaks Klingon,^ pointed out Odo.

Kira's eyes widened in delight.

^Well, Garak, I think you've just got yourself a new job!^ she exclaimed. It would be a big advantage for the Bajoran-speakers to have their own interpreter, so they wouldn't have to rely on Jake. Also, there was a fair chance Garak would have a better understanding of how the station worked; though she was loath to associate with the Cardassian, she had to admit he had a great many skills which might come in handy in the present crisis.

Sisko watched as his first officer came up to see him with Odo and Garak. Kira looked very pleased as she walked up the steps to the command office, and even laughed at something Garak said. Sisko was filled with a sudden feeling of dread; there was something profoundly disturbing about the sight of the Bajoran major laughing with the Cardassian.

^I have some good news, captain,^ she said as she entered. ^Here's someone else who speaks Bajoran and Federation.^

Sisko looked at her and looked at Garak, and smiled as he caught the meaning.

^Thou hast found a speaker for thy people,^ he said carefully. He had spent most of the night revising what little Bajoran he knew. The word he used for 'speaker' meant someone who would interpret the prophecies, but it was as close to interpreter as he could get. It reminded him he needed to ask Jake for the proper word.

<That is perhaps too big term,> said Garak. <But I speak a little bit your language.>

<Well, Mister Garak,> said Sisko, <it seems you've just got yourself a new job.>

<I'm sorry, captain, but Major Kira proposed first.>

The captain smiled, though he did pause to reflect on the irony of a Cardassian being Kira's interpreter.

^Garak,^ said Kira, a little miffed at not understanding their brief exchange. ^Dukat's ship will be coming back from the Gamma Quadrant tonight; I'd like to know if Captain Sisko wants us to get reinforcements from Bajor and put the station on alert... or if he thinks it's a coincidence that Dukat is coming just as we have lost our communications.^

Garak turned away from Sisko and fixed his blue eyes on Kira. ^It doesn't sound like a coincidence to me, major. And even if it were, as soon as he realises we have no communications, he will try to take advantage of the situation. He may even board the station.^

^I'm not sure Dukat would just beam aboard a hostile station simply because we have lost our communications,^ she said hesitantly, realising that she had dismissed this same argument when Bashir had expressed it the previous day.

^Perhaps you don't know Dukat as well as I do,^ answered Garak. ^He wouldn't miss an opportunity to at least come and taunt us. The man's ego has always interfered with his brains, and unless he has undergone some serious genetic engineering at the hands of the Dominion, I wouldn't put anything past him.^

^Neither would I,^ said Kira, who was feeling paranoid enough with all this translator business, without the added stress of Dukat floating past them. ^But it's Sisko we need to convince.^

^Surely you have the authority to make whatever decision the situation demands.^

^I'm not quite ready to forcibly take over the station yet,^ she protested.

^I'm not talking about anything forcible,^ he pointed out. ^But I'm sure the good captain would understand that this station should be governed by a representative of the majority.^

^Since when are you so keen on me ruling the station?^ she asked suspiciously.

^I am keen on having someone in charge who realises exactly what threat those ships could pose to us in our present situation.^

^Well, in the meantime, perhaps you could ask Sisko about those reinforcements?^

They both turned and smiled at Sisko again. While Garak tried to remember enough Standard to formulate the question, Sisko stared at them both with some anxiety. He didn't like the turn this was taking at all.

ix.

The replimat was bustling with activity, because it was lunch-time, of course, but also because everyone who had stayed on the station wanted to see everyone else and try to discuss the situation. People tended to congregate on the Promenade anyway, but with the comm systems down, it had become a necessity. If anyone wanted to talk to anyone else, they had to go and see them, and the Promenade was ringing with the unfamiliar sounds of a dozen foreign languages, melting into the familiar brouhaha of hundreds of people speaking Standard Bajoran.

Ziyal was sitting alone at a table, eating her lunch and reading a romantic Bajoran novel she had picked up from the computer a few days ago. Though it had been written during the Occupation, it did a fair job of pretending all was well on Bajor at that time and portrayed the Cardassian presence as if it were an inevitable fact of life, something Ziyal appreciated. It was a change from the sort of political revisionism most Bajoran literature suffered from recently, where every Cardassian was depicted as a blood-thirsty maniac, and every Bajoran as a patriotic, righteous freedom fighter. Aside from that, the novel was profoundly silly, with far too much emphasis on the heroine's romances with all sorts of people. Its main interest as far as Ziyal was concerned was that it was set in the Netapka province, which was where her mother came from.

It was unusual for her to eat lunch alone in the replimat, though she sometimes came to have a red-leaf tea there in the afternoon. She usually ate with Garak, but she had no desire to see him so soon after making an utter fool of herself in the holosuite, and had left her quarters before the time at which he habitually came to get her. Though she tried to convince herself his rejection was perfectly logical, given not only his personal tastes, but their age difference and family history, her heart was still smarting from the shame of being so forward when she should have known better.

Her thoughts about Garak interfered with her ability to take in the story the Bajoran hieroglyphics told, so she looked around at the people milling along the Promenade. Those who lived on the station permanently ignored her, but visitors would invariably stare as they passed. A history she had played no part in shaping weighed upon her shoulders, making her an alien to every species, casting a pall of infamy on everything she did, everything she said. These people knew nothing about her, or the life she had led. All they saw was her grey skin and her wrinkled nose, and the little they knew about her condemned her to ostracism. It never took newcomers long to find out who she was, and she knew what they thought. There sits Tora Ziyal, the daughter of a pagh-wraith.

She smiled at Jake Sisko as he passed her with his plate.

^Greetings,^ he said in Bajoran.

^Hello,^ she responded.

For a moment, he looked as if he would ask to join her, and she found herself fervently wishing he would. She was afraid Garak would come and find her, and be offended that she had been avoiding him. At least her eating without him would not look as suspicious if she had some company, especially the company of a young man. She didn't know Jake very well, and he was a couple of years younger than her, but if he spoke Bajoran, she was pretty sure they would be able to work up some kind of a conversation. But then he seemed to think better of it, and went to sit at a table behind her. Maybe he wasn't in the mood for a conversation with the daughter of a pagh-wraith after all.

Her heart sank as she saw Garak coming towards her.

{Good morning, my dear,} he said pleasantly in Kardasi. {May I join you?}

He was behaving as if there was nothing untoward about the fact she had decided to eat alone rather than with him. However, short of being rude to him, there was nothing she could do about his presence. She nodded in response to his question, so he laid his tray on the table and sat down opposite her.

{Something quite extraordinary happened this morning,} he told her as he speared a korva root with his fork. {Odo came to my quarters and asked me if I would like to translate for Major Kira. It seems the Bajorans are thinking about taking over the station completely and because I speak a little Klingon and Federation, they think I would be a useful addition to their team. Imagine that, *me* working for the Bajorans!}

He looked very pleased with himself. She tried to pretend she shared his mood, though just having him sitting there behaving as if nothing had happened was breaking her heart.

{I didn't know you spoke Federation Standard,} she said softly.

{It is quite amazing what you can pick up when you've been around as long as I have,} he said nonchalantly. He looked around as if checking that no one would hear, and then added, {Actually, I know far less Standard than I know Klingon, but that's still more than Odo or Kira know. We'll have to see how much of it comes back when it is needed. Still, it's probably only for a couple of days, until Chief O'Brien can repair the translators.}

{I see,} she said, nodding.

{Though I suspect my Kardasi will be more useful,} he said enigmatically.

Ziyal did not pick up on the hint, and he noticed she had that mournful look on her face again, the one she had had last night. He had not been too surprised to find she did not wait for him earlier; in fact, he was pretty sure she did not want to see him at all, and he had been willing to respect that decision. But once he reached the replimat and saw her eating alone, he decided he should keep her company, if only to diffuse any onlooker's suspicion that there might be something amiss between them. He really didn't want his clumsy rejection to come between him and his only Cardassian, albeit half-Cardassian, companion. Her company was far more important than his pride.

Though he would have preferred to give her some news which would cheer her up, he decided it was only fair to let her know she was likely to get grief from another middle-aged Cardassian very soon.

{Ziyal,} he started seriously. She looked up at him inquisitively. {The Cardassian flagship will be returning from the Gamma Quadrant tonight,} he told her.

She shrugged her shoulders, trying to hide the fluttering she always felt in her stomach when someone mentioned her father. {So? It went there a week ago, and they didn't cause any trouble then.}

Kira had warned her about the imminent return of the Vejal the day before, when they were at the Temple, and the thought had been in her mind ever since. The last time her father had sailed past the station, she had felt the same intense pang that she felt every time she watched the Wormhole open and let out a Cardassian or Jem'Hadar ship. The flash of blue and orange reminded her perpetually that she could have been with him in his new alliance, if she had been willing to give up the life she knew here.

But when he had ordered her to go to Cardassia, she had refused, denying herself the chance to live with her father once more. She had grown used to her life on Deep Space Nine, to her prayers with Nerys, her conversations with Garak. The station's population was not as hostile in those days, and the memory of the hatred that had greeted her on Prime was enough to make her refuse point blank to return there. And the main thought in her mind then was the promise of Garak's return.

So Garak had returned, and her father had seized power on Cardassia. Nothing had turned out as she had hoped, as usual. She sighed and cast the thoughts away; there was no point regretting what could not be changed.

If Garak noticed her pensive mood, he certainly didn't draw attention to it, but continued to talk about Dukat's return from the Gamma Quadrant.

{The station has lost all external communications,} he said. {Major Kira thinks your father might want to investigate when he finds we don't answer any hails.}

She looked a little worried for a moment, and then shrugged her shoulders again. It didn't take much effort for a man of his training to notice the repetition. Ziyal was obviously very bothered by the idea of her father coming so close to the station. She was right to say he had caused no trouble when his ship and its escort had gone through to the Gamma Quadrant a week earlier. But whether it was because Kira's paranoia was infectious, or because the communications situation had him sincerely worried, Garak had a feeling the ships wouldn't go by so quietly this time.

{I doubt he would be stupid enough to beam aboard,} said Ziyal, her voice devoid of emotion.

{If there is one thing I have learnt, my dear, it is to never underestimate your father's stupidity.}


	4. Chapter 4

"Some things take so long   
But how do I explain   
When not too many people   
Can see we're all the same   
And because of all their tears   
Your eyes can't hope to see   
The beauty that surrounds them   
Now, isn't it a pity."  
George Harrison - "Isn't it a pity?"

x.

Kira was standing at her usual console in the Ops pit, but instead of co-ordinating docking assignments, which was her habitual occupation, she looked as if she were holding court. Garak, Odo, Rom, Jabara and half a dozen Bajorans were standing around her, hanging on her every word as she gave out orders. She was talking animatedly, and every now and then, Garak would say something that obviously reinforced what she was saying, and everyone would look at him and nod. Sisko observed the little crowd through the door to his office, and he was not sure he liked what he saw.

He turned towards his own staff, assembled in his office, and shook his head slowly.

<Well, it seems Kira has found her senior staff,> he said in his soft, calm voice.

<Yes, I see it includes Garak, too,> said Bashir, drawing his eyes away from Kira's staff meeting.

<He knows the station and he speaks some Standard,> explained Sisko. <He'll probably be a valuable asset to Kira's team.>

Though it had been his idea, the captain now found the thought of Kira taking over the station a little worrying. Maybe it was because Garak was going to play a part in this, and, judging from the way he was standing beside Kira, a very important part. This meant the two of them would be in charge of the station when Dukat's ship came back from the Gamma Quadrant, and given they both had an axe to grind with the Cardassian dictator, he wasn't sure they were the best people to handle that particular situation. Or maybe it was just this damn headache which was making him so mistrustful.

<She 'as the good team for to run the station,> said Dax. <Rom in hengineering, Jabara has medical officer, Odo hon security hand Garak for to hadvise 'er.>

<Yes. Rom in engineering,> muttered O'Brien. <By the time he's finished with it, the station will probably look like one of Quark's holosuites!>

<It seems she will not need our assistance,> remarked Worf.

The captain observed Kira and her staff a moment longer and then went to sit in his chair.

<I wouldn't go quite that far, Commander,> he said. He picked up his baseball and handled it thoughtfully, before adding, <But I agree we will have to relinquish our command positions temporarily. That does not mean, however, that we should just sit back and wait for Rom to come up with a solution. Chief, you've been working to resolve this problem since last night. How much longer do you think the translators and communicators are likely to be down?>

They all looked at O'Brien, who sighed tiredly. His pale, drawn face bore witness to nearly twenty-six straight hours of working.

<Well, Doctor Bashir was right,> he said. <The failures are definitely due to nanites, and it seems they're programmed to disable only the comm systems. Which is just as well... I'd hate to think what would happen if those little pests attacked the life-support circuits or the sensor array. In just twenty-six hours, they have wrecked every single communication or translation device on the station, including our personal communicators and the sub-dermal translators some of the other species have. And every time we try to replace a damaged circuit, the little beggars destroy that one, too.>

<Could this be sabotage?> suggested Bashir. <If they're designed to only attack one type of circuit, then it could be a deliberate attempt on someone's part to disable the station. I mean, obviously, they must have come here when I returned from the conference in the runabout, but it would make sense for a power like the Dominion to want to cut off the station from all external help.>

<Perhaps they deliberately infected the runabout, knowing that Julian would be coming back to the station,> said O'Brien.

Everyone seemed to concur with this opinion, but Worf shook his head.

<No, it does not make sense for them to disable communications only. All our weapons are still functional,> he said simply.

<Worf's right, captain,> said Dax. <With the Defiant we could withstand han attack for a day, which his long henough for a runabout to get reinforcements from Bajor.>

<Well, we'll worry about *why* the nanites got here later,> said Sisko. <What matters now is that they're here and we need to get rid of them. Is there any chance of that, chief?>

<Not for the moment... I'm after working on it,> he told them a little self-consciously.

<There is something else I think you should know, captain,> said the doctor. <I've had a few people come in to the Infirmary with headaches and some other unusual complaints, notably mild euphoria or irritability. I'm not sure if it's related to the nanites; but it is possible they've infected some people's neural pathways. After all, they were originally designed for medical purposes.>

<Do you think there's any danger to the station from this, doctor?> asked Sisko.

Bashir shook his head. <No, it only seems to affect a small number of people. I will conduct a thorough study of the phenomenon, though, in case it is related to the communications problem. We might learn something important if it is.>

<Yes. Thank you, doctor,> said Sisko. <Let me know when you've found something.>

<I will... provided Jabara doesn't mind me pottering around the Infirmary,> said the doctor, casting a slightly worried look at Kira's staff meeting.

^So, Rom,^ Kira said to the Ferengi, promoted to ad hoc chief engineer on the grounds that he knew plenty about the station and spoke quite good Bajoran. ^You're saying all this was caused by some microscopic robots?^

^Yes, ze Humans call zem 'nanites',^ he explained. ^Zey are used for simple medical tasks on Federation starships.^

^Nanites... I like that,^ said Kira with a smile. ^But where do these things come from?^

Rom shook his head. ^We don't know yet, but it is quite possibly sabotage.^

^By the Dominion?^ suggested Kira. Though her rational mind was trying to resist it, her paranoia was getting worse.

^I wouldn't put anything past my people,^ said Odo. ^But I am very surprised that they went through the trouble of designing these devices just to destroy our communications, without so much as making a dent in our defences or weaponry.^

^Without communications, it will take us a whole day to get reinforcements from Bajor,^ pointed out Kira.

^But with the Defiant, the station would be able to hold out that long anyway,^ said Garak wisely.

^That depends on what Dukat brings back with him from the Gamma Quadrant,^ argued the major.

She was certain that man had a trick up his sleeve. Ever since he had allied himself with the Dominion in order to take power on Cardassia, Dukat had been spewing out threats and instigating insidious plots to eradicate all opposition from inside or outside his empire. There could be no doubt that his promise to reconquer the territory Cardassia had lost in recent years included retaking the station and invading Bajor. And now, the station's communications were failing just as he was coming back from the Gamma Quadrant... this couldn't be a coincidence.

^True. We should anticipate the Dominion's move and get some reinforcements from Bajor straight away,^ suggested Garak. ^Our staff won't have any difficulty manning the Defiant without the help of the Starfleet crew, so we could put the Defiant on standby and start deploying a defensive fleet as soon as the reinforcements arrive. I realise Captain Sisko specifically refused to get reinforcements when we asked him this morning, but I am not sure he is conscious of how dangerous this situation is. The Federation has consistently refused to respond to the threats of the Dominion in the past, and we all know where that has lead us.^

^We should have the station on red alert when Dukat arrives,^ said Odo, as Rom nodded his agreement. Jabara looked less enthusiastic, but didn't say anything, and the constable continued. ^I could set up martial law and since we have already deployed the Militia, we would be prepared in case the Jem'Hadar board the station.^

^Now wait a minute,^ said Kira, raising her hands to calm them all down. She knew in her heart that they were right, but her mind still insisted they were all overreacting to an as-yet unproved threat. ^Yesterday, we were talking about Dukat's ship and its escort coming through the Wormhole, and now we're preparing for an invasion?^

^The station is a top priority for the Dominion, major,^ said Garak. ^What better time for them to attack than now, when we are at our weakest?^

^If the communications failure is sabotage by my people, they won't hesitate to strike now, before we have time to adapt to the new situation,^ argued Odo. ^I believe Garak is right, we should be prepared.^

^All right, all right,^ said Kira, glad to know she wasn't the only one who was worried by the situation. This proved she wasn't paranoid: she was just being cautious. If even Odo believed martial law was necessary, who was she to argue?

xi.

Ziyal spent the afternoon in the holosuite, watching the Bajoran novel she had been reading earlier. It made a lot more sense when the content was viewed without the form, though it was still pretty mindless entertainment. But Ziyal found some comfort in the heroine's final triumph, when she had overcome all the obstacles in her way, and was happily -- albeit rather graphically -- united with the love of her life. As she left the holosuite, Ziyal found herself wondering if she too would some day find true love, and came to the rather depressing conclusion that, if she were only attracted to Cardassians, which appeared to be the case so far, and Garak wouldn't have her, her chances of romance were pretty slim.

She went over to tell Leeta she had vacated the holosuite, and found the Dabo girl looking rather agitated.

^Oh, my dear,^ she exclaimed, grasping Ziyal's wrist. ^Did you know your father is going to attack the station this evening? I just heard it from Rom, who says Major Kira is going to get reinforcements from Bajor and prepare for an invasion. And the worst of it is that they won't even evacuate the station because Rom says these little robots that are eating our communications are infectious, and it might undermine the whole Quadrant if the infection were to spread. What are we going to do? I mean, how are we going to fight the Dominion if we can't even talk to one another? And what's going to happen to us if Dukat wins? You know, darling, I know he's your father and everything, but the things I've heard about what he did during the Occupation... I wasn't here, of course, I was back home in Braktal, but he had *such* a reputation, dear me! And he has got to be *so* angry with us all after all that's happened. He'll want revenge on the Starfleet people, and what's to become of *us*! Oh my dear, if you could speak to him for us when he comes...^

Ziyal gently removed Leeta's hand from her wrist. ^If my father does come, I will put in a good word for you,^ she said calmly, though the fluttering in her stomach had returned.

Leeta looked rather grateful, and Ziyal found herself thinking how naïve the woman must be. Didn't Leeta know Dukat had disowned her as his daughter, and she would therefore have no sway over him?

As soon as she stepped out onto the Promenade, Ziyal saw the consequences of what Leeta had told her. The Bajoran Militia was omnipresent, all of them alert and with sidearms at the ready, not, she realised, to fend off some possible Dominion attack, but simply to keep a check on the population. Here and there, she could hear people complaining about not being allowed to leave the station and it was obvious the soldiers had orders to disperse any crowd that might gather on the Promenade. The station was under martial law.

She breathed in deeply and held her head up high as she walked towards the nearest lift to the habitat ring. She did not look at anyone, but she knew all eyes were on her, and the silence that fell as she passed chilled her to the bone. She knew what they were thinking; she was the daughter of the man who in a few hours' time would be attacking the station. It was his fault they were so frightened. It was his fault they could no longer come and go as they pleased. And since they could not hurt him, they had to hurt her.

Only a few more steps to the turbolift, and then she would be safe, away from the Promenade and in the darkened corridors that led to her quarters. All she had to do was cover those few meters and everything would be all right. But she was not to be so lucky. A Bajoran man, a bulky dark-skinned creature with a grip like a Breen vice caught her arm as she passed him.

^Ye mus' be happy, ye mongrel,^ he growled in a deep Northern accent. ^Yer ole Da's comin' te get ye.^

Ziyal was petrified. She stared at the floor, her mind empty of everything except the pain in her arm and the blind panic that paralysed every muscle in her body.

^But I'll warrant our Major Kira'll give 'im what for,^ continued the man, shaking her a little. ^Ye'll be an orphan mongrel afore the night is out, mark ye my words. Hey, I'm talkin' to ye, mongrel. Or don't ye know plain Bajoran, ye spoon-headed slut?^

Ziyal continued to look down, her eyes unseeing, but she sensed there was a small crowd forming around them. He was going to hurt her. They were all going to hurt her. They were going to beat her up and no-one would stop them, even here, even on Deep Space Nine.

^What happen? Why you angry wiz her?^ interjected a familiar high voice Ziyal couldn't quite place.

There was some laughter, in particular from the big brown man, who said, ^Yer afraid we'll hurt yer ole master's li'l girl, Ferengi?^

^Hey, Quark, go see if Leeta's lost all your latinum yet,^ exclaimed someone else.

Ziyal chanced a quick look in the direction of Quark's voice and saw the Ferengi surrounded by Bajorans.

^You not hurt her,^ he said, though he looked a little worried.

^Ah, push off, ye big-eared vole,^ declared the Bajoran, letting go of Ziyal's arm to give the Ferengi a shove.

^Don't hurt him,^ pleaded Ziyal. Quark was one of the rare people on the station who was kind to her, and she had no desire for him to get hurt on her account.

The man was about to hurl some other insult at her, but he caught sight of some soldiers coming towards them and abruptly moved away. The crowd scattered as Constable Odo pushed his way through with a Bajoran lieutenant.

^If this is how you keep order, Faran, I might just as well get Starfleet to do it,^ he growled at the lieutenant. ^Get all these people off the Promenade. I don't want any more trouble.^

The crowd and the soldiers dissipated, leaving only Ziyal, Quark and Odo.

{Are you all right?} asked Quark, placing a reassuring hand on Ziyal's arm. His Kardasi was far better than his Bajoran, though there were some sounds he couldn't pronounce correctly.

{Yes, I... I think I will be fine,} she lied, though her teeth were still chattering with the shock of the attack. Quark and Odo guided her to the nearby benches, and she sat down, breathing deeply to try and regain her composure.

{Sincere apologies,} said Odo. {I can see I will have to enforce more stringent security measures. Everyone is on edge with this rumour about the Dominion attack.}

{You mean everyone is running around like mating-crazed voles and it's only a rumour?} exclaimed Quark. {I thought Kira was ordering reinforcements from Bajor and putting the Defiant on standby and what have you!}

{She is,} said Odo.

{Because of a *rumour*? Dukat is going to have a fit if he comes out of the Wormhole, minding his own business, and finds a Bajoran fleet waiting for him! If he wasn't thinking about attacking, that would definitely change his mind. Now, you tell Major Kira from me that if...}

{All right, Quark, that's enough,} grumbled Odo. {Major Kira is quite capable of dealing with the situation without any help from you... Now, Ziyal, I will assign a security detachment to you to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again.}

{No, that's all right,} she said. {I'll just stay in my quarters. I'll be all right.}

{Do you want some company?} suggested the Ferengi gently.

{Quark...} growled Odo.

Quark just shrugged his shoulders and sat down beside a still very shaken Ziyal.

{Seriously,} he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. {I think we would all feel much better if you weren't alone while this is going on. Is there anyone you know who could stay with you until this is over?}

She shook her head. {No. I'll be fine,} she said, getting up.

{You do have friends on the station, you know,} said Quark as he rose with her.

Such solicitude was unusual coming from the Ferengi and Ziyal smiled at him. She felt she should kiss him or take his hand, or something, but she was too shy to touch him, too afraid whatever move she made would be misinterpreted. So instead, she leant forward and murmured, {Thank you.}

She turned to Odo and thanked him as well.

{I'll walk you back to your quarters,} said the shapeshifter.

xii.

Sisko had originally suggested Kira take command of the station because he believed it would be much easier for all involved to have a monolingual command structure as long as the translator crisis continued. Even with Garak and Jake as interpreters, it just wasn't practical to have the senior staff speaking Federation Standard while most of the other staff spoke Bajoran. However, he had not anticipated that Kira would place the station under martial law and call for reinforcements from Bajor when he had specifically ordered her not to.

In his opinion, these were unnecessarily alarming moves on her part. According to the latest information he had received before all communications went dead the previous evening, Dukat's ships would only cross over from the Gamma Quadrant in the middle of the night, several hours from now. Furthermore, there was still no proof that the Dominion would actually attack. Ships had been going to and from the Gamma Quadrant ever since Cardassia had first allied itself with the Dominion and there had been no trouble so far. Even though he was in no doubt as to the Dominion's intentions regarding Deep Space Nine in the future, he found Kira's reaction excessive.

Having pondered the question in his quarters for a while, he decided the best person to take this up with was Kira herself and, without bothering to get Jake, he stormed off to Ops to give the major a piece of his mind. The corridors of the station were virtually abandoned and even the Promenade was uncharacteristically calm. Sisko did not like to see such a pall of fear on the station -- *his* station.

Aside from the Engineering station, which was Rom's responsibility, all the positions in Ops were now manned by Bajorans. They greeted him with respectful smiles, and he nodded to them as he made his way up the steps to the commander's office. Kira was apparently consulting some data on the terminal, and Garak was leaning over her to highlight key points with his finger.

The major looked up in surprise as Sisko entered.

<Major, why have you placed the station under martial law?> he exclaimed without so much as a greeting. <Don't you think the population is nervous enough with the translators gone?>

Kira looked at Garak, obviously expecting a translation, but the Cardassian just looked blank.

<Why soldiers everywhere? Why get ships from Bajor?> insisted Sisko in the hopes the Cardassian would understand at least this. Fortunately for the rest of the conversation, he did.

^I think the good captain is a little concerned about our decision to get reinforcements from Bajor and place the station under martial law,^ he explained.

Kira straightened up and walked around the desk towards Sisko. The human noticed an unusual spring in her step as she approached with a smile.

^Tell him we are just making sure the station is secure,^ she said.

<We believe the Dominion will attack,> explained Garak. <We need massimum proteshion from Bajora and preparashion of the Defiant for battle. Odo his security is for proteshion of stashion populashion. Dukat will make all profit from the problems here. We need preparashion for his coming.>

<Major, Garak, I realise you both have good reason to distrust Dukat,> said Sisko, <but I still think getting reinforcements from Bajor is an overreaction.>

In spite of his ungrammatical Standard, Garak managed to sound quite menacing. <Captain,> he said, <we know Dukat well better as you do. We will make use of all availabilities for proteshion of stashion. You give the power to Kira Nerys, she makes the choice of what we do.>

Kira interrupted him, her expression a mixture of irritation and amusement.

^Garak. That's an awfully long translation of 'we're making sure the station is secure'.^

^Kira,^ said the captain, talking directly to her. ^I trust in thy skill for command. Alas thy decisions may bring further danger to the...^ He failed to remember the word for station, and continued, ^'Tis a danger to our people.^

She shook her head and moved closer to him, looking up at him with a mischievous smile which was definitely familiar, though he could not remember where he had seen it before. It certainly wasn't a smile Major Kira usually directed at her commanding officer.

^No, captain,^ she said gently. ^Dukat is the danger to our people. And I intend firmly to do everything I can to stop him from harming anyone.^

xiii.

Ziyal managed to remain brave and calm all the way to her quarters. She even held up for a further few minutes of assuring Odo she was fine, and no, there was no need to send for Kira or Garak. She was a big girl, she could take care of herself, and the Bajoran hadn't really hurt her at all. The shapeshifter was obviously not convinced, but at least she managed to get him to go on his way.

As soon as the door closed, she collapsed on the floor and wept. Not because of that brute on the Promenade, or even because of Garak's rejection which had kept her in tears half the night. She was crying because of the one person she adored more than anyone else in the universe -- her father. The most handsome, charming, and loving man she had ever known. The cruellest, harshest and most ambitious also. And in a few hours, he would either be sailing past the station, apparently oblivious to her very existence, as he had done many times before, or he would come here to attack, as everyone seemed to fear. Either way would be just another example of the ill-fate which plagued her life.

For years, she had believed she was being punished for something, something so terrible she had been wrenched from her beloved parents at the age of thirteen, so terrible she had watched her mother die before her very eyes, so terrible she had lived five years as a slave for the Breen, so terrible even the faintest glimmer of happiness was denied her time and again. Oh, it was easy enough to figure out what that something was - the paghs of ten million Bajorans murdered by her father and his predecessors was reason enough for a life of unhappiness. But try as she might, she could not accept that the ordeal the Prophets were putting her through was fair.

She had tried to explain this punishment to Kira, but religious though she was, the major could not see the logic in the young woman's reasoning. She had said that the Prophets were not vindictive, and that if they were, they would punish Dukat, not his innocent daughter. But Ziyal didn't believe that. She knew her father would never be punished, simply because she was being punished in his place. And part of her punishment was that he didn't even know.

That was the part that broke her heart. Her love for him was unrequited. She had worshipped him when she was a child, had spent her five years of captivity dreaming of the day he would come to save her. And then he did, just as her mother had promised, just as she had known he would... She had nursed the illusion that she didn't care, that the solicitude of Garak and Nerys was enough to feed her affection-starved soul, that she could see her father for what he was, that bastard, that murderer, that pagh-wraith.

And yet she loved him.

Her throat tightened and her sobs grew more intense. She knew there was no hope for her, because the person she needed most in the universe didn't love her. Even Garak's gentle rejection was nothing compared to what her own father had done to her. He had loved her, had accepted shame and demotion for her, as if she were the most important person in the universe. And after years of being the lowliest of creatures for her captors and fellow captives, she had thought her heart would burst with happiness. But then he had abandoned her; without so much as a second thought, he had exiled her away from him, to this station, to be cared for by a woman who had no time for her amongst people who felt nothing but hatred or indifference for her. That was when she understood what role she was really destined to play. It should not have surprised her when he finally disowned her.

But it didn't matter if she was being punished for his crimes while he enjoyed his new power, selling out the whole Quadrant for his personal gain. It didn't matter that he had rejected her so cruelly after making her hope for so much. He was her father, and she loved him, and she missed him. And the thought that he might come on the station, might see her and look at her with hatred like the rest of them, just broke her heart.

She got up and staggered into her room, leaving the light off as she fumbled with her bedside drawer. She pulled out her dagger, a Cardassian combat knife her father had given her when they were together on the Groumall. She didn't often resort to such drastic remedies, but there had been occasions when the pain inside had become so intense that only the pain outside could relieve it. The serrated edge of the knife seemed to run across the back of her arm of its own volition and her mind was shocked into concentrating on that tangible, physical pain, instead of the mental misery that pervaded it.

The door chime rang, its high electronic sound breaking unexpectedly into her solitude. She paused, knife poised, and waited to hear if whoever was ringing the doorbell would persist or just go away. The door chimed again; they obviously didn't want to go away. She was paralysed by indecision, hoping her unwanted visitor would take the hint of her lack of response and leave her alone. They didn't. In fact, she heard the door slide open. Whoever it was had the emergency overrides. She sighed and just prayed that it wasn't Nerys or Garak.

For once the Prophets answered her prayers. It was Quark.


	5. Chapter 5

"Fortune has me well in hand   
Armies wait at my command...   
The angels guard my every tread   
My enemies are sick or dead   
But all the victories I've lead   
Haven't brought you to my bed   
You see, everybody loves me, baby   
What's the matter with you?   
Won't you tell me, what did I do to offend you?  
\-- Don McLean - "Everybody loves me baby"

xiv.

It was late evening when the Wormhole opened and spat out the Cardassian ship Vejal and its Jem'Hadar escort. As Sisko had suspected, the ships were originally on their way back to Cardassia. However, having passed the station, they stopped short of the Cardassian border, hovering there for a couple of minutes, before they split up, the Jem'Hadar escort continuing on to Cardassia while the Vejal came back towards the station.

Dukat was surprised to find the station raised its shields when his ship approached, a reaction that was most unlike Sisko. A quick scan of the station revealed nothing unusual. Though there were two runabouts missing, the Defiant was still in its usual place and a Zeppelite freighter was docked on one of the upper pylons. But the complete lack of response to any hails had Dukat curious, and he was anxious to go and see what was happening there for himself. He certainly didn't trust anyone else to investigate the matter for him; besides, over the years, he had come to rather *like* the staff on Deep Space Nine, from Sisko and his theatrical diction to the young four-hundred-year-old Trill who was sleeping with the Klingon. Besides, he was always ready for a glimpse of Major Kira.

With the Dominion technology installed on his ship, it wasn't too difficult to beam through their shields, and he soon materialised in Ops with an escort of six Jem'Hadar.

It didn't take him long to realise something was very wrong. For a start, there were Bajoran soldiers all around and Garak was standing at the position Major Kira usually occupied. Aside from Sisko and his son, who were standing on the upper level, there was no sign of any Starfleet personnel. There was definitely something suspicious going on.

And then, the Bajorans vaporised the whole of his escort.

Dukat immediately felt the pull of a transporter as his crew tried to beam him back. But their attempt was thwarted and he remained in Ops with a dozen Bajoran phasers aimed at him. He guessed the Federation had finally got around to designing a dampening field strong enough to resist the Dominion transporters. He realised he should not have underestimated the resourcefulness of Starfleet.

The station was soon rocked by a shot from his ship. Dukat had a split second in which to choose between being captured by the Bajorans and blown up by his own ship.

He activated his wrist communicator. "Dukat to Vejal. Stand down and follow original orders."

"Acknowledged, sir," responded Damar.

The Vejal stopped shooting at the station and Dukat let out a little sigh of relief. Now that the immediate danger was averted, all he needed to do was wait and see how this situation would play itself out.

She watched him from her newly acquired office as he ordered his ship to cease its attack. The astonished look on his face when he realised he had beamed himself into a trap was in itself worth all the feverish preparation of the last few hours. She wondered how someone so predictable could have survived this long. But it just went to show how well Garak knew his long-time enemy, and what a short-sighted fool Dukat really was, the swaggering idiot. She had such contempt for him just then she could scarcely believe she had ever hated him or considered him a threat.

Her contempt was somewhat tempered by how calm he looked; evidently a dozen Bajorans armed with phasers and plenty of good reasons to kill him weren't quite enough to ruffle him. His demeanour relaxed when he realised they had orders not to shoot him. He lifted his hands patiently as one of them disarmed him and took his communicator, and then took a good look around the command centre.

His face took on a rather sardonic expression, as if he too realised what a mistake he had made. She had seen that expression on his face many times before. It was the expression he had whenever one of his twisted schemes hadn't turned out quite as planned, when nothing was going right or he realised just how misguided his trust in others -- his government, his family, anyone -- turned out to be. His gaze finally came to rest on Garak, and his face became far more hostile, perhaps even a little fearful. She paused a moment to reflect how different the two Cardassians were; while one could never be sure what Garak was feeling, Dukat's emotions were often clearly visible, his face an open book.

She decided it was time to make an appearance.

^What hast thou done?^ exclaimed Sisko when she appeared. ^Wherefore didst thou order them to slay those Jem'Hadar?^

Both Siskos looked completely horrified, and most of the people in the room, including Garak, turned to see how she would react to her commanding officer's outburst. But Kira was interested only in one person for the moment, and his attention was gratifyingly focused on her. There could be no doubt he was pleased to see her, though he cast an apprehensive glance at the phaser she was carrying.

She was just as beautiful as ever, he thought, enjoying the glimpse he had been looking forward to in spite the strange situation. He let his eyes drift over the red uniform that clung so tightly to her slim figure and then brought them back to her face, just in time to notice the unusually smug expression there. She walked down the steps to the upper level and paused to look around at the Bajoran soldiers.

^Well done,^ she told them.

Dukat now understood the reason for Sisko's strange outburst. The translators were obviously not working. Perhaps that also explained why the station was not responding to hails. But in the meantime, he had something more important to worry about.

Kira continued down the steps towards him. In spite of the smile on her red lips, which positively spelled out danger, he could not help admiring the way she was gently swinging her hips as she approached. There was something unusually sensual about her attitude, and though it puzzled him, he was curious to know what had happened. This did not look quite like the Major Kira he knew, but he was looking forward to getting to know this one nonetheless.

^You know, Dukat,^ she said gleefully. ^I didn't believe you would be stupid enough to beam onto the station. But Garak said you wouldn't resist the temptation. You just *had* to do it, didn't you?^

Dukat looked up automatically as his eye caught movement on the upper level. Odo had appeared on one of the lifts and walked to the banister, observing the scene silently. One just had to admire Odo, thought Dukat; he was a survivor. How many other people had kept their jobs when the Cardassians withdrew? But much as Dukat respected Odo, inasmuch as he respected anyone, he found it difficult to imagine Kira could be attracted to such a creature. What shape did he turn into to please her, he wondered, before cursing his mind for bringing up such irrelevant musings at a time like this. He was letting her sensual walk get to him.

He bowed his head gently towards the major and decided now was perhaps not the time to compliment her on her lovely figure.

^I take it you have finally grown tired of co-ordinating docking assignments,^ he said a little sarcastically.

^Something like that,^ she said. ^A lot has happened in the past couple of days.^

^So I gather,^ he said, hoping he wasn't showing too much of his apprehension. She was, after all, holding a phaser, and that calm smile of hers was somewhat worrying. In fact, he wasn't particularly surprised when she levelled the phaser at his chest.

^I take it today is the day you plan to make good on your oft-repeated promise to kill me,^ he said calmly. Maybe it was his destiny to be vaporised by the pretty Bajoran major after all. His death would make little sense, but as his life had been pretty incoherent, it was perhaps only fitting he should be executed for his stupidity. That sort of thing evidently ran in the family.

^Something like that,^ she repeated, her thumb moving to activate the weapon.

He just had time to wonder if the sudden paucity of her vocabulary was due to the lack of a translator. Then he heard Sisko shout ^Kira! Thou canst not kill him!^ and the world went black.

xv.

<You mean she shot Dukat? Just like that?> exclaimed Bashir.

<Just like that. She pulled the phaser, shot him and he fell flat on his back,> explained Jake.

The Starfleet officers were nearly the only patrons in Quark's, owing to the late hour and the fact Odo's stringent security had scared just about everyone off the Promenade. Most of the other people there, aside from the staff and Dabo girls, were Bajoran security officers, who were also talking about Dukat's capture.

<I can't say I blame her,> stated O'Brien, who was having a much-needed rest from his round the clock fight against the nanites. He was beginning to think dire thoughts about his friend Bashir for bringing the little pests onto the station in the first place, Dominion plot or no Dominion plot.

^Can I get you something?^ offered Leeta, as she came over to their table.

^Same again,^ said Jake. ^Thank you.^

<So, what 'appened next, Jake?> asked Dax.

<Well, as you can imagine, Dad nearly had a fit, and he started spewing out all this old Bajoran. I bet he never thought he knew so much! But that really got his rag. Kira didn't pay any attention to him at all. She and Garak were looking very pleased with themselves, and then they started discussing what to do with Dukat. None of it sounded very pleasant.>

<Are you surprised?> said O'Brien. <After all those two have had to put up with from Dukat over the years. Sure they'd want to get a little revenge.>

<Then Odo went to pick Dukat up,> continued Jake, <and I presume they brought him down to a holding cell. Dad went after them, but I don't know what happened next.>

<Perhaps your father can tell us now,> said Worf.

They all followed his gaze and saw that Sisko had just entered the bar. The captain had one of his wild looks about him, and they gathered he had not had an easy time with the station's new commanding officers.

<What happened, Dad?> asked Jake.

Sisko patted him tenderly on the shoulder and sighed as he sat down with them.

<I don't know what they have planned.> He looked around at his crew. <I presume Jake has told you what happened in Ops just now,> he said.

<Trust Dukat to beam in just when Kira and Garak are in charge of the station,> said Bashir, who seemed quite amused by the situation.

<That was not a wise move,> agreed Worf.

<Kira is the one in charge of the station. She never told me she was going to make *Garak* of all people her first officer! There's no telling what they'll do to Dukat,> exclaimed Sisko. <And I don't understand why Odo is going along with this!>

<They wouldn't just kill him, would they?> said Jake.

His father shook his head. <I don't know, I tried to reason with them, to explain that if we hold on to him, we will have both the Dominion and the Federation after us. You just can't go around kidnapping the head of the Cardassian state!>

<Kira hand Garak both want 'im dead; I'd say the houtlook was bad for Dukat,> said Dax.

Sisko slammed his fist in his hand. <I can believe it of Garak, but Kira should know better than that,> he declared. <She can't let her desire for vengeance interfere with her duty!>

<Maybe she has a major case of nanites... if you'll excuse the pun,> said Bashir. <As I said, they seem to be causing some unusual behaviour in certain people. If you had seen the way Quark was behaving earlier, you would know what I mean. He was most unlike himself.>

<You're saying Nerys has gone mad?> said O'Brien. <And she's in charge of the station?>

<No, I just said she might not be quite herself,> explained Bashir.

<Well, whatever the cause, we must try and reason with Kira and Garak before they do Dukat some harm,> said Sisko, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples as if he had a headache. His eyes were bloodshot when he reopened them. <Doctor, you're quite close to Garak, perhaps you could talk to him.>

<We're not that close,> said Bashir shortly, observing Sisko with concern.

Dax' lips curled into one of her mischievous smiles. <That his still closer than hanyone helse,> she said simply, though her look suggested she didn't believe the doctor's protests for one moment. Bashir was the only one who was bothered by this.

<I suppose you and I will have to talk to Kira again,> continued the captain, looking at his son.

Jake nodded. He shared some of his father's concern that Kira's sudden over-zealousness might endanger Dukat's life. It wasn't as if he had ever been their precious ally -- even when he was supposed to be helping them, he was just on the lookout for himself. But Jake did not approve of the cold-blooded way Kira had ordered the execution of the Jem'Hadar soldiers -- one had to presume the Bajoran Militia had acted on her orders -- and was convinced Dukat did not deserve such a fate any more than they had. However, the young man was more concerned with his father's bloodshot eyes.

<I still cannot believe she gave the order to vaporise those Jem'Hadar!> exclaimed Sisko, slamming his fist down onto the table to emphasise his point. This time everyone noticed his feverish look. <Hasn't she learnt anything over the last five years?>

<Dad, are you all right?> asked Jake, who was a little worried that Kira wasn't the only one who wasn't herself tonight.

<I... yes, I think I am. It's just, I... I feel a little dizzy,> gasped Sisko, placing his hand on his head and trying unsuccessfully to get up. His skin had turned an unusual hue of dark yellow, and Bashir was immediately at his side to monitor his pulse and assess his condition.

<I think you and I should go to the Infirmary, captain,> said the doctor. He and Jake helped Sisko to his feet and guided him out of the bar.

^What happened?^ asked Leeta, who had finally got around to bringing them their drinks.

Dax guessed what she had asked. <Captain Sisko 'as come down with a case hof nanites,> she explained.

xvi.

The first thing Dukat noticed when he woke up was the excruciating pain in the back of his head. He knew from the familiar sensation of disorientation that he had been stunned by a phaser. His muddled mind attempted to count all the times he had been stunned in the past, and it had reached about ten different occasions before he managed to convince it to concentrate on the situation at hand.

He was lying on his back on something surprisingly comfortable, but there was a glare in the room which bore into his eyelids. As he mentally examined the input from his body, he became aware that his hands were tied by some metallic device, something smooth and rigid which held his wrists at a fixed distance. He could hear the whirr of the life-support system and the faint buzz of a force field - the tell-tale sounds of a holding cell.

He tentatively opened his eyes and blinked in the bright light of the brig, asking himself if shapeshifters were insensitive to light that Odo needed such strong illumination here. He felt just a little stupid at having let himself in for all this, but dismissed the thought almost immediately. The past and the future didn't matter - his main priority was to deal with the present in the best way possible. Preferably any way that would keep him alive.

He turned his head toward the forcefield and allowed himself a smile when he saw who was sitting at the table with her back to him. He would recognise that red uniform and short, tousled hair anywhere. There was a Bajoran security officer with her, though, a fellow he didn't recognise, but who was keeping an eye on him.

^Major, he's awake,^ he said when he caught Dukat's eye.

Dukat hoisted himself up and pivoted his body into a sitting position. The effort caused an explosion of pain in his head and he winced as his vision blurred.

^So he is,^ said Kira, who sounded a lot more like her usual self than she had in Ops earlier. ^You've been out for quite a while, Dukat.^

He raised his hands to rub his eyes.

^I had some sleep to catch up on,^ he said softly. ^What happened to your translation system, anyway?^ It was a strain to speak Bajoran when his head was still swimming from the shock of being stunned. He wanted to rub the sore back of his head, but couldn't because of the shackles.

^Don't you know?^ she asked.

^No...^ he started, before looking at her sharply. ^You were blaming me for this? Is this why you've captured me?^

^No, we just captured you on general principles,^ she said shortly.

The Bajoran guard grinned. He evidently agreed with that sentiment. Dukat just gave him a penetrating glance which made him look satisfyingly uncomfortable for a moment, until the fellow remembered he was the one holding the phaser, and Dukat was behind a forcefield.

^But the thought did occur that the communications problems might be due to Dominion sabotage,^ continued the major.

^I'm not a terrorist,^ he protested.

^Really?^ she remarked rather sarcastically. ^Well, I suppose the Dominion wouldn't necessarily tell you if they had planned to sabotage the station, anyway. But you'll admit it does seem a bit suspicious that your ship happened to come back through the Wormhole just while this was happening.^

^Coincidences happen all the time,^ said Dukat sincerely. ^So, what are your plans for me? I thought you wanted to kill me.^

^I do,^ she said simply. ^Actually, there's quite a long waiting list.^

^I'm sure there is,^ he said, looking at the security guard again. ^So why am I still alive? I'm surprised you didn't just get your soldiers to pulverise me. They certainly had no qualms about vaporising my guards.^

^I thought it would be more fun if I did it myself,^ she answered with a smile.

There was a slightly sadistic look in her eyes which made him a little concerned. He pondered her remark and looked down at the metal device around his wrists. It looked rather like the device the Maquis had used to restrain him when they had captured him. He allowed himself a smile as he thought of the Maquis. That was at least one thorn out of his side. They had humiliated his species, and he had never forgiven them for making such a fool of him -- forcing Sisko of all people to come and rescue him. But they would never bother Cardassia again.

He straightened up and found Kira had been observing him all the time. He didn't understand the look in her dark eyes, but he nonetheless let the smile the fate of the Maquis had brought to his lips widen.

^Do I get a last wish?^ he asked a little teasingly.

^No... What would that wish be?^

His expression became more serious.

^To see Ziyal.^

She shook her head and laughed rather unpleasantly. ^You have some nerve,^ she hissed. ^After what you did to her.^

^After what *I* did to *her*?^ he exclaimed in outrage. ^And what is my crime, exactly? That I have had no contact with her for months?^

^For example!^

He let his eyes narrow as he got up and walked to the forcefield. There could be no doubt she was an attractive woman and one with whom he believed he would get on quite well if they weren't perpetually on opposite sides. But if she wanted to argue with him about Ziyal, he had plenty to say on that subject and it wasn't all to the credit of the Bajoran major.

^She had a choice and she chose to remain here, among my enemies,^ he told her, trying to control the rage he still felt whenever he thought of what his daughter had done. He had sacrificed everything for that girl, and all he got in return was ingratitude. ^What am I supposed to do? Send her daily messages full of fatherly affection -- 'Oh and by the way, do tell Captain Sisko the Dominion will be attacking Earth on such-and-such a date'? She knew that by choosing to stay on a Federation station, she was cutting herself off from Cardassia and from me. That was her decision, and if it was a mistake, then it was her mistake, not mine... My mistake was trusting you in the first place.^

She breathed in sharply as she walked up to the forcefield, placing her hands on her hips and striking an attractive, if slightly menacing pose.

^Don't tell me,^ she sneered. ^You still believe this is all a plot -- that I let Garak befriend Ziyal to get back at you.^

They could not have been more than twenty centimetres away from each other, with just the buzzing forcefield between them.

^On the face of it, you and Garak seem to get on quite well,^ he remarked.

^Oh, spare me your paranoia, Dukat. You just think the whole universe is out to get you.^

^I don't think I'm far wrong, now, am I?^ he stated, pleased to see the momentary hesitation in her eyes as she thought about this. ^But you know what's funny, major?^ he asked rhetorically. ^I didn't believe that of you. Do you know I actually believed you had the moral high ground for a while, that you were really as righteous and honest as you said you were? I thought your desire to help Ziyal stemmed from a sincere wish to spare her the unhappy life you had known yourself as a young girl. But it turns out you're just as selfish as everyone else, too busy co-ordinating docking assignments and bearing children for your human friends to take proper care of her. You let her be educated and entertained by someone who had more than enough time on his hands -- my enemy Garak. You know perfectly well how much he hates me, and I suspect a close inspection of my security file from any intelligence service will tell you why.^

^He may hate you, but he doesn't hate Ziyal,^ she started, but he wasn't going to let her voice her pathetic Federation-inspired good sentiments.

^Major, you obviously don't know Cardassians very well, and Garak in particular. He may well have some affection for her; she's young, lonely, and probably more than willing to...^ He couldn't even pursue the thought of what his daughter might be letting herself in for with Garak. ^But let me tell you something: given a choice between sparing Ziyal's feelings and killing me, he would choose the second option every time. You are very mistaken if you think he has changed, or that allowing Ziyal to spend her time with him is the best way of taking care of her.^

^We've been through this before, Dukat -- she's not a child anymore, and you will have to stop treating her like one!^

^Major, I think you overestimate Ziyal's maturity.^

^How would you know? It has been months since you saw her.^

He felt his throat tighten as he realised that was the truth. Ziyal could have changed a lot since he last saw her. She had certainly changed a lot since he had first left her on the station. But no amount of maturity could account for the girl spending her time with Garak. And it certainly didn't excuse Kira's total lack of interest in the matter.

^That is right,^ he admitted. ^But it doesn't absolve you of the responsibility you took on when you offered to bring Ziyal here. You promised you would take care of her, not ignore her and let her roam the station with nothing better to do than indulge in your benighted beliefs. But maybe I *am* to blame. I should not have let my respect for you interfere with my common sense.^

She lowered her eyes for a moment, and he was struck yet again by the purity of her irregular features. But when she looked up at him, he knew his regard was entirely unrequited.

^You call me too preoccupied by my own problems -- what about you?^ she snapped. ^Why did you let her come here in the first place? Wasn't it because she was a burden to you on your ship while you were out there fighting your own little war?^

^Ziyal was never a burden to me!^ he protested. He was about to explain how much he had missed her when she left for Deep Space Nine, but he decided that was more than either Kira or her guard needed to know.

^Then why was it so easy for me to convince you she should come to the station in the first place?^ she retorted.

^Because I wanted to believe what you said,^ he explained more gently. ^I thought a life here would be better than anything I could offer at that time. She was so unhappy on Cardassia... And life on the Groumall was not a great improvement. I wanted her to live in a better environment.^

Kira was silent for a while, her dark eyes fixed on him as her expression relaxed again. Perhaps she was seeing things from his point of view.

But then her expression hardened once more. ^It's no use, Dukat, I am not going to fall for your 'family man' act again,^ she declared.

^I wasn't aware you had 'fallen' for it before,^ he remarked softly.

He saw her jaw muscles clench in anger and smiled, pleased to find he had ruffled her into speechlessness. There was evidently something about him being a family man which bothered her very much. He made a mental note to use that against her if the occasion arose. In the meantime, he took advantage of her silence.

^Tell me, major,^ he said, as if the thought had just occurred to him. ^I can't help noticing that I am presently shackled, restrained in a holding cell *and* under surveillance by an armed guard. Do you think I might be going somewhere?.. Or is it just because you're afraid of me?^

Kira smiled and was about to retort when she was interrupted by Garak's clear high voice.

^Major, you're handling this all wrong,^ declared the Cardassian as he crossed the brig to join them. Odo followed shortly.

^Actually, I think she's handling it quite well,^ said Dukat, successfully disguising his apprehension as he realised his nemesis had a Klingon dagger in his hand. He liked to think he wasn't afraid of Garak anymore, but he had to admit the thought of what he could do with a d'k tagh was rather intimidating.

^Of course you do, but that's only because it has been a long time since you were subjected to a real Cardassian interrogation,^ explained Garak gleefully. ^Believe me, once I get started on you, you'll realise just how ineffective Kira's technique really was.^

The major moved aside as Garak took her place in front of the forcefield. She was smiling with uncharacteristic delectation, and Dukat did not like the look of that at all. He had been rather hoping she would protect him from his lifelong enemy, but judging from her attitude right then, it seemed his only chance of protection was from Odo. He presumed his former security chief on Terok Nor would not allow Garak to simply rip him to pieces.

In the meantime, however, he had a verbal confrontation to conduct.

^Perhaps we could put that idea to the test,^ he said calmly. ^Let Kira interrogate me first, and if I haven't confessed to whatever it is you want to know by the time she is finished, you can interrogate me.^

^Interesting idea,^ said Garak, pretending to ponder the notion. ^And so typical of you. You always did have a weakness for Bajoran women.^

^Something you wouldn't understand,^ sneered Dukat.

^But I'm afraid your track record on that count won't help you,^ continued Garak as if he had not spoken. ^You're not the one making the decisions.^

Dukat smiled as a slightly irrelevant thought occurred to him.

^Tell me, Garak, is there any reason why you and I should be speaking *Bajoran* to each other?^ he asked.

^Your desire to impress the good major, perhaps?^

They both looked sideways at Kira again and she smiled an unusually wicked smile, swivelling her dark eyes from one Cardassian to the other.

^Well, she's not impressed,^ she informed them. She slipped her arm affectionately around Odo, something the shapeshifter had visibly not expected. But her eyes were on Dukat. He smiled as he recognised that look.


	6. Chapter 6

"By all the operation of the orbs   
From whom we do exist and cease to be,   
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,   
Propinquity and property of blood,   
And as a stranger to my heart and me   
Hold thee from this for ever."  
\-- Lear to Cordelia in "King Lear"

xvii.

Ziyal watched as the regenerator reconstructed the skin on her forearm. Within a minute, her light grey flesh had been repaired to Jabara's satisfaction, and the nurse put away the instrument. The young woman observed her arm carefully to check that there was no trace of the slashes on it.

^Thank you,^ she murmured politely, getting off the bed with the firm intention of walking out of the Infirmary and returning to her quarters to be alone.

^Tora,^ said Jabara gently, placing her hand on the young woman's shoulder. ^Don't you want to talk about what happened?^

^Nothing happened; I cut myself,^ explained Ziyal, as if it had been an accident.

^What I would like to know is why you cut yourself. What would have happened if Quark hadn't come in?^ asked the nurse, looking over to where the Ferengi was sitting.

Ziyal followed her gaze and smiled at Quark. He was obviously straining to understand their conversation. ^Nothing,^ she said reasonably. ^I have a regenerator in my room, so I would simply have cured it. It's only because Quark had a fit when he saw the blood that I came into the Infirmary. You saw it was nothing serious, really.^

As far as she was concerned, that was the truth. The depression she had felt earlier was gone as if by magic, and she had actually found Quark's intervention very funny. It was obvious the Ferengi had thought she was trying to commit suicide, whereas nothing could be further from the truth. The pain was there to make her live, to relieve the pressure her mind was under, and so far, it had done very well.

^Tora, you have a very serious condition,^ said Jabara with genuine concern. ^You should see a counsellor.^

Ziyal was about to protest, but their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Doctor Bashir, accompanied by Jake and Benjamin Sisko. The captain didn't look very well, and the doctor soon had him lying down on one of the beds.

<What's wrong with him?> asked Jake, alarmed by his father's condition.

Bashir ran his tricorder over Sisko.

<Just as I suspected: nanites,> he said as he administered a sedative. <And almost exclusively located in his neural pathways. This is the first time I've seen concentrations like this outside of the Ferengi, and in their case, it was due to their internal translators. But as far I know there's nothing which could be attracting them to your father. I'll need to keep him under observation for the night.>

<And what about Dukat?> asked Jake. <Dad wanted to go and see Major Kira about him.>

<Well, your father can't go, but we can always--> Bashir's voice trailed off as he realised Ziyal was present. In his haste to tend to the captain, he had not noticed she and Quark were there as well as Jabara.

^What has happened to my father?^ asked Ziyal, looking straight at Jake, since she knew he spoke Bajoran. ^You mentioned his name -- I heard you,^ she insisted as Jake hesitated.

^He beamed aboard the station,^ he explained finally. ^Garak and Major Kira captured him.^

Ziyal looked thoughtfully around her for a moment, before letting out a little sigh. ^Ah well, I suppose you can't choose your parents, can you?^ she said calmly.

She noticed Bashir was looking at her curiously and she wondered if he understood any of the conversation.

^Tora,^ said Jake, deciding he didn't know her well enough to call her by her personal name. ^You know they don't like Dukat...^

^Then that makes three of us,^ interrupted Ziyal, walking past him. ^Good night,^ she added bravely.

Her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode, but she knew she had to be strong. Her father did not love her, and confessing to all these people how much she loved him would just humiliate her, and expose her for the weak soul she was. How could she be so stupid as to love a man who had abandoned her?

She remembered the look on his face when he left. "Be damned," he had said, and now she knew she was. And she had angered him for the promise of Garak's return; Garak, who didn't love her any more than her father did. Her heart sank as she realised her present thoughts were undoing all the good her earlier catharsis had done.

{Ziyal,} called out Quark's voice from behind her. He was following her down the corridor.

{What?} she snapped, turning to confront him. {Can't you mind your own business, Ferengi?}

{No... Leeta is minding it for me,} he said, obviously quite pleased with his witticism. But then his orange face became more serious as he added, {It's about him, isn't it?}

{About who?}

{Your father. Dukat,} he specified, as if she might have more than one. {He's the one who is making you so unhappy.}

She was shocked. Was it really so obvious that even the Ferengi bartender could tell? She thought she had been so successful at hiding her pain, but all the while, it had been displayed plainly for all to see. They all knew how she felt.

Some of her surprise must have shown on her face, because he smiled, and said, {I see I was right. At first, I thought you cut yourself because of Garak. You looked miserable when you came out of the holosuite last night -- I thought something had gone wrong between you two. But having seen your reaction just now... I guessed your father had something to do with it, too.}

Quark was evidently a lot more perceptive than she would have given him credit for. And he was right, between Dukat and Garak, she had plenty to make her miserable.

{Oh, I hate Cardassians,} she lamented.

{That's just your Bajoran side talking,} he grinned. {I've known some loveable Cardassians.}

{I doubt my father featured among them.}

{Well, you know the 33d Rule of Acquisition, 'It never hurts to suck up to the boss', but no, I can't say I would go that far. Come on, I'll buy you a drink and you can tell me all about it,} he offered.

{I'm not sure I should go to the Promenade after what happened earlier,} she said.

{It's very late; I doubt there will be many people around.}

She thought about that for a moment. Given her current state of mind, the prospect of going back to her quarters was not so attractive; she knew she would just mope around until the depression returned and she was compelled to use her father's knife again. On the other hand, Quark seemed to want her company, and given that he had already guessed the cause of her worries, she thought he might even be willing to lend an ear if she decided to confess some of the torment in her mind. Lobes like that were made for listening.

She nodded and followed him down the corridor towards the Promenade. {Why are you so kind to me?} she asked.

Quark grinned at her. {Sometimes you remind me of someone I used to know.}

xviii.

Odo was quite amazed at the turn events were taking in the brig. Garak was still taunting Dukat, but the gul didn't seem to be paying much attention to him. In fact, Dukat's entire attention was focused on the major, and for the first time, the shapeshifter noticed the expression on the gul's face as he looked at Kira.

Odo felt his liquid interior stir in anger as he realised what designs the Cardassian had on the major. It did not come as a tremendous surprise; Dukat's penchant for Bajoran women was well-known back in the days of Terok Nor, and Odo himself could vouch for the fact that Kira was a most attractive Bajoran. But this realisation cast quite a different light on her relationship with Dukat. It was no wonder she was so virulent in her hatred of him; knowing Dukat, he had probably made a pass at her, and Odo knew that was not the sort of thing Kira took kindly to.

He now understood her sudden desire to put her arm around him; her display of affection was probably to show Dukat she was already taken. She had used similar tactics with unwelcome suitors before. Odo's security instincts took over and he moved forward, placing himself automatically between his ward and the potential source of danger. Dukat's eyes narrowed when he realised what the constable was doing, but his expression then relaxed into one of amusement which just angered Odo further. The shapeshifter half hoped that Garak *would* get an opportunity to "interrogate" Dukat; it would certainly teach the gul a lesson.

Their silent confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of Deputy Ndar. The Bajoran hesitated before coming in, his eyes obviously taking stock of the situation, from Kira's arm around Odo to Garak's d'k tagh.

^What is there, Ndar?^ asked Odo, disengaging himself from Kira's embrace without relinquishing his strategic position between her and Dukat.

^Sir, there's a mob forming outside,^ explained the deputy. ^They're calling for Dukat to be handed over to them.^

^A mob?^ exclaimed Odo. ^I gave express orders to disperse any gathering. Where are the security staff?^

^Joining the mob, no doubt,^ remarked Garak.

The deputy shot him a disgusted look, but ignored his remark, addressing his commanding officer instead. ^I have called in some extra security,^ he informed the constable. ^Their ring leader appears to be that Northerner who attacked Tora on the Promenade.^

^'Attacked Tora'?!^ repeated Dukat, lunging instinctively at the forcefield. {He attacked Ziyal and you just let him roam the station? You're losing your touch, 'Ital!}

Odo swung around and found Kira was now standing near the holding cell with her back to Dukat. ^Odo, you didn't tell me Ziyal was attacked,^ she said.

Garak too was concerned, ^What happened? Why weren't we informed?^

^Because there was no time,^ growled Odo, annoyed at finding himself under scrutiny by all three of them. ^I had no sooner accompanied her back to her quarters than Dukat was on the station.^

{What happened to her?} demanded Dukat. {What did this man do to her?}

{He just insulted her about you,} answered Odo, switching automatically to the Kardasi he had spoken when he worked for Dukat. {That's all. She was fine when I left her.}

Dukat's face was livid with anger. {And you just let him go? You must have known anyone who would attack an innocent young girl would be bound to cause more trouble!}

Odo had to admit he hadn't handled that situation particularly well, but it was true enough that Dukat's arrival had disrupted his plans to warn Kira and enforce a more stringent martial law. He had no sooner left Ziyal in her quarters than the station was shaken by a blast from the Cardassian flagship. By the time he reached Ops, Dukat was disarmed and at the mercy of Kira's guards.

{The person who is causing trouble here is you,} he grumbled.

{Then tell your precious major to let me go,} snarled Dukat. {And I won't trouble you anymore.}

Kira gave Odo a rather reproachful look. ^Odo, are you sure Ziyal is all right?^ she asked.

^Of course!^ the constable assured her. ^I escorted her back to her quarters myself, and she seemed in perfectly good spirits. I suspect she is sleeping peacefully by now.^

Garak was the only one who seemed reassured by what Odo said; leaving the others, he went through to the security office, presumably to have a look at the crowd. But Kira was less relaxed about the situation. She turned towards Dukat and though Odo could not see her face, he guessed she had expressed some sympathy, because Dukat calmed down a little and paced around his cell.

{I hope to all that's sacred that she's all right, 'Ital,} growled the gul. Kira nodded in agreement.

Though Odo knew both Kira and Dukat had genuine reasons to be concerned about Ziyal, he didn't like the way the major seemed to be pairing up with Dukat against him. But before he had more time to consider her attitude, Garak came back from the office with a big smile.

^I must say, major,^ he said in his calm high voice, ^I am quite impressed by the number of people out there clamouring for Dukat's blood... I suggest we give him to them. That would go a long way towards calming them down.^

Odo rolled his eyes. ^Even Dukat doesn't deserve what that mob would do to him,^ he said.

^I beg to differ,^ protested Garak. ^In fact, I think we would be doing the whole Quadrant a big favour if we just let them in.^

Kira looked at Dukat with a sly smile. ^I'm sure we would. But I think we can do better than that. Odo, is there anywhere else we could keep Dukat?^ she asked.

The shapeshifter looked at her curiously. There was definitely something wrong with her attitude towards Dukat tonight.

^Keep him? Until what? May I remind you his ship is still orbiting the station, major?^ he said. ^I think we should let him go before this situation gets any more out of hand than it already has.^

Kira ignored him and addressed Garak instead. ^When are those reinforcements from Bajor due to arrive?^

^Not for another three hours at least. Since the first runabout we sent this morning hasn't returned, we have to presume they stayed on the planet, and in the meantime, the second runabout will have reached Bajor about two hours ago. It should take at least an hour for the fleet to be brought out, considering it will be the middle of the night at the Bajoran capital. Following that we must allow for the four-hour trip back to the station,^ he answered, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be in charge of organising the Bajoran fleet.

^But Dukat's ship isn't doing anything? They must be aware that we've called for reinforcements.^

^They're probably hailing us for all they're worth,^ said the Cardassian. ^But since we can't even receive their hails, they're not getting much response. Perhaps they are waiting to discover what we have done with Dukat before acting. They might not want to storm the station and risk killing him in the process. He is, after all, the head of the Cardassian state.^

^Yes, he is. I think we have a great opportunity to learn more about the Dominion's plans for the Cardassian sector,^ said Kira, more for Odo's benefit than Garak's. In fact, the Cardassian seemed convinced of this already and regarded Dukat with the same sadistic delight as earlier.

^If that's what you believe, major,^ said Garak with an ingratiating smile, ^I suggest you let me do the interrogating. It will be over much sooner that way.^

Odo growled irritably at Garak's threatening tone, though he made no effort to shut him up. The shapeshifter's interior vibrated with anger again as he remembered the blatantly degrading look the gul had given Kira earlier; for that, Dukat deserved anything that was coming to him.

Kira glanced at Dukat. ^Yeah, and there won't be much of Dukat left when you're finished.^

^I can restrain myself, major,^ protested the former spy. ^I have conducted many an interrogation without lifting so much as a finger on my subject. I once got a man to talk by simply staring at him for four hours.^

^Well, you won't get four hours in which to stare at Dukat with that crowd pounding at the door,^ pointed out Odo.

^No, and I think a more persuasive method would be necessary against him anyway, though I can assure you I would return him in one piece and fully functional, major,^ Garak said to Kira. ^In fact, it might prove quite interesting. I'd like to know what it would take to make him crack.^

This time Odo was about to retort, when Kira interrupted him.

^Odo,^ she said, apparently choosing to ignore Garak's comments, ^can you find me a secure location on the station, and beam Dukat there?^

^Any empty quarters on the station can be secured within half an hour,^ said the constable, ^but I'm not sure I'd trust that man to remain in a holding cell, let alone anywhere else. And I really don't see the point of keeping him. It's too dangerous. We should beam him back to his ship and send him on his way.^

^Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him,^ said Kira. ^You let me know when you're ready.^

xix.

Ziyal watched as Quark counted the latinum Leeta had earned during the day. He was chattering about various things as he piled up the shiny strips and bars, and the young woman found the unfamiliar sounds of his soft-accented Kardasi rather soothing. She guessed from his accent that Ferengi must contain mainly gentle fricatives and liquids which did not adapt well into the harsher sounds of her father's language. Yet the strange combination of accent and language was fully comprehensible and even quite charming, seeming to endow the Ferengi's ugly features with an exotic aura.

He talked about Ferenginar, criticised the Federation and the Bajorans for their stringent gambling laws, complained about Nog and Rom and their near total lack of respect for Ferengi customs. Then, when she asked him who she reminded him of, he started to reminisce about his Cardassian lover Natima Lang. Ziyal presumed he was telling her the whole story about Lang and her dissident views, and how she had become involved with him partly because she thought he was helping Bajorans.

{Those must have been hard times,} remarked Ziyal, hoping to prompt him to talk more about those days. She had heard plenty about the Occupation, of course, both from Kira and her Bajoran friends and from Dukat and his Cardassian crew. But she was curious to know what an outsider like Quark had made of that time, and though she would not have asked him to do so directly, she hoped he would talk about her father.

{They were... for Bajorans,} said Quark noncommittally. {I can't say I had much to complain about. I made more latinum in those days than I do now,} he informed her, dejectedly piling up the last slip. {The Bajorans have no head for figures,} he muttered in conclusion.

Ziyal smiled. Quark evidently regretted letting Leeta run the bar.

{But there are advantages and disadvantages to both situations,} he continued. {The bar attracts a far more diverse clientele nowadays than it did before, and not just because of the Wormhole, either. There are more diverse species in the Federation, and I enjoy meeting so many of them here. You never saw Vulcans and Bolians here in the old days, nothing but Zeppelites, Lissepians, some Ferengi, and the occasional Lurian or Astelian. And of course, lots of Cardassians and Bajorans. I did have a bit of a problem with the lighting, too. We Ferengi don't see much in the dark.}

{So you enjoy it more now, even though you make less profit,} said Ziyal with a little smile.

{I didn't say that,} explained Quark, his Ferengi pride obviously hurt by the implication. {As I said, there were advantages to both situations. And I have to say one thing for the Cardassians -- they do know how to enjoy themselves. Your father was in here far more often than Sisko ever is.}

Ziyal lowered her eyes and leant on the bar, looking down at her hands. Now that Quark had finally broached the subject she wanted to talk about most, she was hesitant to pursue the topic. He would judge anything she said about Dukat in the light of what he knew of her continued affection for her father, and for some reason, that really bothered her. She didn't like to think her motives were so transparent.

Quark did not let her apparent reluctance stop him. {Your father was fond of socialising with his men in here. I guess it's something most military leaders need to do, just to keep their troops loyal. He liked the occasional drink, but he was always moderate in his tastes, and ready to put a stop to anything he didn't approve of.}

Ziyal looked up at him and smiled a little timidly. {You must have known him quite well, then.}

{Quite well,} he agreed. {Not very well, but you get to know someone quite well when you see them nearly every day. Of course, as you probably know, Cardassians only let you see what they want you to see. They're not like humans -- you take one look at a human or a Bajoran and you know exactly what's going on in their mind. But Cardassians are different, and I guess I only saw what your father wanted me to see. He was generous, friendly; he commanded respect from his men and had plenty of... friends,} he corrected, obviously omitting something he hadn't meant to tell her.

Ziyal was curious to know what the omission was. {Friends?} she prompted.

Quark straightened up and took on a righteous expression that was quite out of place on his rotund face. {There are some things a woman should not know about her father,} he said with unusual dignity.

{Women?} asked Ziyal.

{Well, let's say your father liked to have a good time,} he said simply.

{He's an attractive man.}

{I wouldn't know... and anyway, you're prejudiced,} grinned Quark, {you're his daughter... I doubt Major Kira would agree with you.}

xx.

Odo used the computer in his office to secure some empty guest quarters in the outer habitat ring. For years, he had got used to speaking Bajoran at all times, and it gave him a slightly eerie feeling to talk to the computer in Kardasi again. It struck him as rather strange that the Federation had never got around to making the computer completely Anglophone, but it was an oversight for which he was very grateful, as he barely spoke a word of their language, and was too tired for a linguistic fight at this time of night.

The crowd clamoured and knocked at the door, but it held firm, and he looked up at them calmly. He could hear the insults they were hurling at him, accusing him of protecting Dukat because of Cardassia's association with the Dominion. He dismissed their insults as the ranting of people frustrated by the communications difficulties and the quarantine the Federation staff had imposed on the station. Worf had appeared out of nowhere with some Starfleet security officers, and they were making some small progress in clearing the crowd. Odo was confident the mob would eventually get tired of shouting and go to Quark's or something.

He was far more concerned about Kira's behaviour this evening. It was unlike her to order the execution of half a dozen Jem'Hadar without so much as a warning, and her decision to capture Dukat was unwise, considering his ship was still orbiting the station. There was also the issue of her uncharacteristically sensual attitude. Her walk when she went over to confront Dukat in Ops had been unmistakably provocative, to such an extent in fact that, for a moment, Odo had had serious doubts about her intentions towards the Cardassian. She had of course done it on purpose to unnerve her adversary, and he knew she had used such tactics on other Cardassians in the past. But considering how much Kira hated Dukat, it must have demanded quite some effort for her to flirt with him like that.

On the other hand, given what he had surmised of the gul's attitude towards Kira, it did not surprise Odo that she should want a little revenge. Though the concept of revenge usually jarred with his sense of justice, Odo felt he should not let anyone get away with treating the woman he loved like that. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and by the time he had finished securing the quarters, he felt that if Kira and Garak wanted to give Dukat a hard time, he was not the one who would deny them the opportunity.

Odo rose from his seat, and, after a quick look at the angry crowd, went through into the brig to signal all was ready. Kira released the forcefield and the guard pulled Dukat out a little roughly. Garak was calmly cleaning his nails with the d'k tagh, and the look on his face as he regarded his enemy would have sent shivers down the shapeshifter's spine, if he still had one. He was glad he wasn't Dukat.

Odo drew Kira aside to give her the co-ordinates for transport, adding, ^I'm afraid I will have to go and regenerate now, major. It has been a long day.^

Though Odo was speaking to Kira, Dukat overheard him. ^Ah,^ he said, before Kira could respond. There was a great deal of disappointment in that brief exclamation.

^What's the matter with you?^ snapped Kira.

^Is something wrong, Dukat?^ asked Odo at almost the same time.

^No,^ said Dukat. In typical Cardassian fashion, his voice betrayed no other emotion than amused curiosity. ^It just occurred to me this means I am to be left in the custody of my two good friends, the major and the... tailor.^

{Don't worry, Dukat, I'm sure the major and I can take good care of you,} said Garak, gently testing the point of his knife with the ball of each finger. {The evening will probably prove most entertaining. Especially given such an interesting subject to work on,} he added, looking Dukat over with deliberate sadism.

{I see years of exile among humans haven't cured you of those perverted appetites of yours,} sneered Dukat. {I am surprised the Federation people didn't lock you up for good, instead of just six months.}

{Actually,} said Garak, moving closer, {you'll be glad to know I have been a model of decency ever since, even by Federation standards. I am quite a reformed character. In fact, I'm thinking of applying for citizenship in the UFP. They could probably do with some more respectable citizens like myself. And who knows, the day might come when the Federation is in a position to choose the next leader of Cardassia... In the meantime, however, I would be more than delighted to indulge in some of my past pleasures, considering I have a fellow Cardassian to try them out on.} He pointed the tip of the d'k tagh at Dukat's throat.

{Garak,} growled Odo menacingly.

Kira placed her hand on Garak's arm to pull it gently away. {You can play your little games later,} she told him in heavily accented Kardasi. She looked at the two Cardassians a little self-consciously before concluding, {Computer, three to transport.}


	7. Chapter 7

"Garak: It's not going to work, you know.   
Dukat: What are you babbling on about, now?   
Garak: I'm talking about Major Kira.   
Kira: What about her?   
Garak: She's much too busy trying to save the station to be impressed with your incessant posturing.   
Dukat: Garak!   
Garak: And even if she weren't, she has much better taste than to be attracted to you. You, a married man!   
Dukat: I should have executed you years ago.   
Garak: You tried, remember?   
Bashir: Garak, this isn't helping..."  
\-- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - "Civil Defence"

xxi.

{It is true that I don't know him all that well,} admitted Ziyal, pausing only to suck some more rhum-coco through the straw. {But I mean, he *is* my father. And when I think of the man I knew when I was a child... the man I knew when I was living with him on Cardassia Prime last year, I find it very difficult to believe that he could suddenly have become this monster spewing out all this stuff about a unified Cardassia, how he wants to reconquer the lost colonies, including Bajor. And look at what he did to the Maquis! How could he have changed so much?}

{I guess your father is a complicated man,} said Quark wearily. He sounded as if he regretted bringing up this topic at all, as a little alcohol had quite done away with Ziyal's earlier reserve.

{But I know how he felt about Bajor. I remember how he used to tell me it was the most beautiful planet in the universe, and how much he regretted having to leave it. I can't believe he would ever back a plan to actually blow up the Bajoran sun! What kind of a madman would do such a thing?}

{That was the Dominion's idea, though, wasn't it?}

{Yes, but what would Father have done if it had succeeded? How would he have lived knowing he had been instrumental in destroying the entire Bajoran race, not to mention killing me? How could he ally himself with people capable of a plan like that?}

{Those are questions you should ask him,} said Quark a little more brightly. {Perhaps you should go to the brig and see him.}

Ziyal shook her head. {No, I don't want to see him. I... He... It would just make me sad. You know we parted on very bad terms. I think he hates me now.}

{I very much doubt that. Perhaps he would understand if you went to see him and explained how you feel about him and about Garak. After all, last time, he was waiting to take power with the help of the Dominion, so I guess those weren't ideal circumstances for a father-daughter heart-to-heart.}

{And you think him being imprisoned by Nerys and Garak will be any better?} said Ziyal with a little smile. {No, I don't think the day will ever come when I can talk to him again.}

{Now, you see, it's attitudes like that which make you miserable. Go and see him! If he doesn't want to talk to you, then that's his problem, but at least you will have tried.}

She looked a little pensive as she pondered his suggestion. {Well, I don't know...}

xxii.

Once they beamed in, Garak checked that the guest quarters Odo had selected were properly secured. The small apartment was identical to all the other guest quarters in the outer habitat ring, with a separate bedroom and bathroom, luxurious furniture and, at this time in the station's rotation cycle, a view on the Wormhole. Garak was unimpressed with Odo's idea of a safe place to keep Dukat; a blind storage room off one of the cargo bays would have been better suited to the task. This place was designed for important guests, not prisoners.

However, Odo had done a good job of securing the quarters, such as they were. Garak pointed out the security monitors to Kira while Dukat, still shackled, and getting a little tired of all this business, sat down on the nearest chair. Once she was satisfied that Dukat would not be able to escape, Kira did likewise, so that they were sitting opposite each other on either side of the coffee table. Garak stood behind the major's chair and observed Dukat's shackled figure with great satisfaction.

^The mighty Gul Dukat in irons,^ he exclaimed. ^I must admit that alone makes this crisis worthwhile.^

Kira put her elbow on the armrest and placed her chin in her hand, looking Dukat over deliberately.

^It is rather an interesting sight,^ she said. ^What do you think we should do with him?^

^Well, I have a few suggestions...^

^Yes, so you said.^

Garak leant over her almost sensually as he spoke in a low voice, but which Dukat could hear clearly. ^We might learn something interesting if I interrogate him. He is privy to the Dominion's plans for this sector, after all. And who knows what they have in store for Bajor?^

Kira swivelled her head gently so that her cheek was resting on her hand and she could see Garak's face.

^He does,^ she answered.

Dukat felt some apprehension as he noticed she was smiling the same wicked grin as before. He had been trusting Kira to be sensible and preserve his life and his person. After all, a woman who could get emotional about blowing up a shipload of Klingons was hardly going to set Garak loose on him. But he was beginning to wonder if whatever was affecting the translators wasn't also affecting Kira's judgement. In which case, things were pretty bad. Not desperate, but bad nonetheless.

However, he wasn't going to let either of his captors know his state of mind.

^Do you really believe I could escape, major?^ he asked a propos of nothing, looking Kira straight in the eye. ^After all, even if I could get out of this room, I would not go very far before meeting that mob you saved me from. And though I do know the station very well, there have been some considerable modifications since I was in charge here, and my access codes are no longer valid. I should perhaps also mention the fact that, without my communicator, it would not be possible for me to leave the station... I was wondering if it is really necessary to have me restrained like this.^

Kira turned her head towards him again.

^Oh yes, absolutely,^ she said in an unmistakably flirtatious voice. ^Garak and I are rather enjoying the view, in fact.^

^So I heard,^ said Dukat wryly.

{You have to admit, Dukat, that it's the price of you for beaming on board the station in the first place,} pointed out Garak cheerfully, switching to a language he knew would best suit his speech. He walked towards Dukat, twirling the d'k tagh expertly in his fingers. {Such a remarkable display of stupidity cannot go unrewarded. Of course, I suppose you shouldn't really take all the credit for this action,} he continued, pacing slowly around Dukat's chair. {It takes generations of careful breeding to develop such splendid lack of foresight, and I know for a fact that you come from excellent stock in that respect.}

{You can leave my family out of this, Garak,} growled Dukat dangerously.

{Oh, I don't know. I have a feeling your family history plays a very large part in the present situation. Your indomitable and ill-advised thirst for power, not to mention your womanising --} Garak paused to look at Kira, who responded with an encouraging smile {-- all your insufferable swaggering and posturing, in fact, is probably due to some childhood trauma. I must admit it doesn't take much to guess what caused that.}

{You're preparing for a new job as a Federation counsellor, I see,} sneered Dukat.

{I suppose I should be feeling ashamed to think that I might have been the indirect root of your problems,} continued Garak, waving his d'k tagh philosophically. {But the fact is that your father was the one to blame. A man's family is always very important, of course, but it should never be placed above the interests of the State.}

Dukat looked at Kira and sighed irritably. {Is this really why you captured me, major? To listen to Garak's psychobabble about my mental state?}

Kira smiled because he had forgotten he was supposed to be speaking Bajoran to her. But she rolled her eyes when the door chime rang just as she was about to respond. She pulled herself reluctantly out of the chair and walked slowly to answer the door. Having exchanged a few words with a Bajoran soldier there, she came back towards the Cardassians.

^I have something to take care of. You boys be good while I'm gone,^ she advised, placing her hand gently on Garak's arm before adding, ^Especially you, Garak. 'In one piece and fully-functional', remember?^

Garak turned towards Dukat with a big grin. The gul swallowed hard.

xxiii.

After about half an hour of watching his father sleep, Jake left him and wandered into the doctor's office. Bashir was intently studying the results of all the tests he had run that day, and it was a moment before he could drag his eyes away from his computer screen to look up at Jake.

<Is your father still asleep?> the doctor asked politely.

<Yes... Have you found out what's wrong with him?>

It was after midnight now, and Bashir looked very weary. He rubbed his eyes, before answering slowly, <I know it has something to do with the nanites. They are positively infesting his body, and that's what caused his sudden illness.>

<Is it serious?>

Jake sounded understandably worried, and the doctor smiled reassuringly.

<There will be no permanent damage if we can get the nanites out again. But until we can determine what is attracting them to him, it's going to be difficult to get them out.>

<If they're attracted to him, why aren't they affecting you and me?>

Bashir shook his head in helplessness. <I don't know. As far as I can tell, your father is the only human on the station who is suffering from an infection of nanites. The Ferengi and some of the Bajorans are affected, but none of the other species. Except for your father.>

<Perhaps it has something to do with him being the Emissary,> suggested Jake, who was trying to think what his father had in common with the Ferengi and some Bajorans. <Quark met the Prophets...>

<Rom didn't,> remarked Bashir. <...No, I don't know what it is. All I need is to find the link between them all and then I should be able to determine what is attracting the nanites. Once we know that, we can work on drawing them out again.>

<Isn't there some other way of getting rid of them?>

<The only known way of killing the nanites is to subject them to gamma radiation,> explained the doctor. He didn't need to spell out that this wasn't an option.

There was a silence.

<I wonder what was the matter with Ziyal,> said Jake, remembering the young woman's abrupt departure earlier on.

<Yes, I never got a chance to ask Jabara. What did Ziyal say to you, anyway?>

<I told her Dukat was on the station, but she didn't seem particularly concerned.>

<I thought she looked very concerned, for a Cardassian,> remarked Bashir. <You know, it only struck me when I was watching her talking to you, but she really reminded me of Garak. She has picked up some of his mannerisms, the way he looks around when something bothers him or he's thinking up some lie to cover the real answer to your question. It was quite remarkable.>

<That's funny, it never occurred to me she'd actually imitate him,> said Jake, adding this detail to his mental character sketch of Ziyal.

<Garak's mannerisms are quite catching. Dax told me I've picked up a few myself.>

<I wonder if he loves her,> continued Jake. <I mean, it's pretty evident that she loves him.>

<Yes,> agreed Bashir shortly.

<But I'm not sure about Garak. I guess he's so inscrutable, it's difficult to tell.>

The doctor thought about that for a moment. <I suppose he is rather flattered. He's told me he finds her charming, and she's quite pretty. But I'm not sure... I don't know,> he concluded suddenly, <I suppose I don't know Garak all that well.>

<I would have thought you knew him better than anyone else on this station. You used to spend so much time together.>

<We only had lunch once a week,> said Bashir in a defensive tone of voice which didn't escape the fledgling writer's notice.

<And you went to the holodeck together, as well,> pointed out Jake.

<Yes, but you can spend time with someone and still not know them.> The doctor shrugged his shoulders. <I certainly don't know much about his relationship with Ziyal, except that, as far as I can tell, they're not lovers. I was a bit worried at first that he might be cultivating her acquaintance just to get back at Dukat.>

That had obviously not occurred to Jake before. <Do you really think he would do that?>

Bashir shook his head. <No. I don't think Garak is that vindictive.>

xxiv.

Garak's head was spinning from the blow. He had not expected Dukat to be so quick. *You're getting old,* he told himself, *old and out of practice*. He should have known better than to think a pair of manacles would be enough to restrain Dukat. Even the d'k tagh was little protection, and his unusually ineffective stab at Dukat's neck had done nothing to cower his adversary. Maybe it was the headache which was affecting his combat skills.

But then that all served him right for taunting his prisoner instead of getting to the point and concentrating on the extraction of information. He had had some good questions lined up -- when the Dominion planned to attack Deep Space Nine, and what had happened to the remaining members of the Obsidian Order on Cardassia. But as it turned out, the temptation to gloat was too strong.

{Don't you insult my mother,} growled Dukat, his breath uneven from the effort of springing out of the chair.

Garak laughed. It was really quite funny how easy it was to make this man lose his temper; Dukat had as much self-control as a Klingon. A mention of any member of his traitorous family was usually enough to push him over the brink. Like father, like son. And if they had executed this son when they shot his father, they would have done the entire Quadrant a favour.

Garak's laughter was interrupted when he realised Dukat was looking over his shoulder at something. Or rather someone, as it turned out.

^I see you two have been having fun,^ came Major Kira's Bajoran drawl from behind him.

Garak was surprised to find Dukat immediately ceased his attack, but it wasn't until he turned to look at the major that he discovered why. She was menacing them both with a phaser.

^Ah, major, am I glad to see you,^ said Garak calmly, wiping a trickle of dark blood from his lip. ^Your friend and I were having a slight difference of opinion, which you can perhaps settle.^

^What is the meaning of this charade, major?^ growled Dukat, who was looking the worse for the stab on his left neck cartilage. ^Did you capture me just to hand me over to this bloodthirsty killer?^

Kira looked him over with a disdain far more sophisticated than any expression Garak had expected to see on her face.

^'Hand you over', Dukat? It doesn't look like you are incapable of defending yourself.^ She fixed her dark uneven gaze on Garak, and added, ^In fact, considering the odds against you, you've done quite a good job... now, if you two will just back off for a moment, and listen to me, I have some interesting news.^

Though either man might have been a match for Kira in hand to hand combat, they both did as they were told. Dukat wandered over to look out of the nearest window, before turning back to watch Kira. His face was stern and unamused, the anger which had flared up at Garak's earlier mention of his mother still visible on his features.

^Dukat's ship has left,^ announced the major. She paused, obviously waiting for some reaction from the gul. Garak also watched his enemy's face closely, and their attentiveness was soon rewarded. Dukat was not good at hiding his emotions, and he lowered his eyes for a moment, visibly assessing this unexpected turn of events. But then, a small smile curled his lips. Garak surmised from this that the gul had come to the same conclusion as he had himself; the ship had gone to get reinforcements from Cardassia. Maybe they were going to get the answer to that question -- when the Dominion would attack Deep Space Nine -- after all.

xxv.

Though Bashir was trying his best to be polite to him, Jake soon felt the doctor would rather be alone to work on ways of getting the nanites out of their victims. So the young man took his leave and, after one last look at his sleeping father, headed for his quarters on the other side of the station. As he passed through the Promenade, he noticed that there was still a light on in Quark's. After a moment's hesitation, he walked over to look through the window.

Ziyal and Quark were both standing at the Dabo table, holding drinks and chatting in a language which Jake presumed was Kardasi. The unfamiliar sounds echoed in the eerily empty bar, interrupted only by the sound of the Dabo wheel. Perhaps the Ferengi was teaching Ziyal how to play Dabo, unless he was demonstrating some control device to her or something. Whatever they were doing, they seemed to be getting on very well, and Jake decided to leave them to it.

He was backing away from the window when Ziyal suddenly looked up and saw him. A wide grin spread over her face, and she indicated he should come in.

^Mister Sisko, come and join us,^ she exclaimed.

He obeyed, a little concerned he might be interrupting something that was none of his business. But Quark looked as pleased to see him as Ziyal was, so he relaxed a little and came over to join them at the Dabo table. The Ferengi exchanged a couple of words with Ziyal, and then scurried off behind his bar to get some more drinks.

^What happened to your father?^ asked Ziyal in her softly accented Bajoran. Jake wasn't sure if the accent was Cardassian or some regional Bajoran accent he was unfamiliar with.

^He was infected by the nanites,^ he explained. ^Doctor Bashir says he will be better as soon as they find a way to get them out.^

^Oh, I say,^ she exclaimed a little drunkenly. ^Jolly good.^

Quark returned with two glasses of root beer; he seemed to think this was the only thing Terrans ever drank. He handed a glass each to Jake and Ziyal.

Ziyal winced when she sipped the root beer, and evidently disliked it so much she had to put it down.

^You no like, you no ask for,^ said Quark with a grin.

^I thought I'd try something different,^ explained Ziyal to Jake, ^I have had far too much to drink as it is.^ He had to admit she did look a little tipsy. ^But this is... revolting,^ she added, pointing to the glass in disgust.

Jake laughed. ^I guess we don't always appreciate food and drink from other planets.^

^No, there are lots of things I like from Earth,^ protested Ziyal. ^I love <rhum-coco>, and I like <aspragus>, and <leek>, and... the big things you have to tear the leaves off...^

<Arteshogi,> said Quark, whose comprehension of culinary Bajoran was evidently enough for him to follow the conversation.

<Artichokes?> queried Jake. ^You like <asparagus> and <artichokes>?^ It was his turn to be disgusted.

^They go very well with yamok sauce.^

^I'm sure they do.^

Jake caught Ziyal's eye and they both laughed. Quark looked on benevolently for a moment, before spinning his Dabo wheel again. Jake finally discovered what the Ferengi was doing; he was checking that the wheel was properly balanced, so it would spin smoothly. He even had a little instrument which appeared to be designed for this purpose.

Now that his curiosity was satisfied on this point, Jake thought of something else he wanted to find out.

^Ziyal, have you had any news of your father?^

Quark stopped the Dabo wheel with his finger and looked up at Ziyal. Feeling the attention of both men on her, the young woman looked down at her glass of root beer and took in a deep breath.

^No,^ she said calmly, though she cast what looked like a pleading glance at Quark. Whatever her look signified, Quark ignored it.

^I tell her she must go see him,^ he said to Jake. ^She need know what he does. But she does not want.^

^Quark is right,^ agreed Jake, though he wasn't quite sure he had understood everything the Ferengi had said. ^You should at least try and find out. I don't think Major Kira and Garak will have harmed him, but I know that if my father was being held prisoner somewhere, I'd want to know what had happened to him, too.^

^You are a lot closer to your father than I am to mine.^ She was flustered enough to pick up her glass and drink a sip of root beer, though she rapidly put it down with a renewed expression of disgust on her face.

^But you love your father,^ said Quark, constructing perhaps his most coherent sentence in Bajoran so far. ^You need know what he does, then discuss with him. Tomorrow, he'll perhaps gone.^

She seemed to think about that for a while, her eyes downcast. And then she raised her round grey eyes to Jake, the expression on her face clearly displaying the uncertainty in her mind. He smiled reassuringly at her.

^I'll come with you,^ he offered. ^We could go and see Odo to ask him where your father is.^

^Odo be sleeping,^ said Quark, who would naturally know at what times the shapeshifter would be regenerating, even if he didn't know the word for it in Bajoran.

^Then we'll ask his deputy,^ shrugged Jake. ^Ziyal, we really should find out what has happened to your father. Then maybe you can talk to him. Quark is right, this would be an excellent opportunity.^

Ziyal looked from one to the other and sighed. ^I suppose so.^

xxvi.

In typical Bajoran fashion, Kira was visibly unnerved by Dukat's calm. She had evidently been expecting him to be more worried about the departure of his ship than he was. Garak watched as her brow furrowed just above her nose ridges, and then returned his attention to Dukat. The gul was looking extremely pleased with himself.

^You know why my ship has left, don't you, major?^ said Dukat in a low, mocking voice. ^Before beaming aboard your station, I gave orders for it to return to Cardassia and get the Jem'Hadar if they didn't hear from me within an hour... So, now you have the potential for a full-scale war on your hands, what are you planning to do, major? Or were you so anxious for my company that you forgot to consider some little points like the fact the Dominion might not appreciate you forcibly retaining one of its allies?^

Kira thought about that for a moment, and then looked at Dukat with a sudden smile. In that moment, Garak found her almost pretty. He also found this thought most disturbing, and pushed it to the back of his mind as he concentrated on that was happening.

^Now that was a remarkably stupid thing to do, Dukat,^ said Kira, walking up to the gul with the same provocative expression as she had used earlier in Ops.

Garak wondered if there was any medical reason for her sudden change of attitude, or if it was just down to Dukat's charm. He decided there must be a medical reason. In the meantime, Dukat looked very much as if this was his lucky day, the fool.

^You won't call me stupid when the fleet returns, major.^

^Well, you have to admit it isn't very brilliant, is it? Now you *really* have nowhere to go. We could kill you with no problem whatsoever.^

^That wouldn't be very wise, now, would it? Your position will be much stronger if I am alive when they return. Otherwise, there won't be much left of this station.^

^I think the station can defend itself pretty well.^

^We'll see about that.^

Surprisingly, he didn't expand on his comment. Garak could tell he was too busy looking the major over. If she noticed it, she certainly didn't let on. Instead, she tilted her head slightly to one side, observing the trickle of dark blood where Garak's knife had missed its mark.

^I see Garak has been redecorating your neck ridges,^ she said slowly.

^Yes. He obviously didn't take your order to leave me alone seriously.^

^It doesn't look too bad. Just a scratch.^

^A painful scratch, I can assure you.^

Garak was pleased to hear him admit that. It was standard procedure, when countering an attack, to aim for the sensitive neck ridges, in order to cause one's opponent a maximum amount of pain.

The pain can't have been that serious, however, as Dukat had no difficulty leaning his face closer to Kira's.

^I wonder what Captain Sisko would say if he knew what little games you and your tailor friend were playing in his absence,^ he purred menacingly. ^I think you will have a lot of explaining to do when he finds out. By the way, where *is* the good captain? I still haven't had a satisfactory explanation as to why he didn't try to stop you when you first captured me.^

Kira smiled wickedly. ^I guess you just weren't important enough, Dukat. After what you have done, do you really think he would be concerned for your safety?^

^I have never harmed Sisko,^ said Dukat reasonably. ^And for that matter, what have I ever done to harm you?^

^I wouldn't know where to start,^ she sneered.

Garak looked from one to the other, his sharp blue eyes missing nothing of their exchange. He found it quite remarkable to be so thoroughly ignored by the pair of them, and was utterly disgusted by what was going on between them. He would never have imagined Kira would stand so close to Gul Dukat, or speak to him so seductively. The very sight was giving him a headache... unless that was Dukat's earlier blow. At any rate, he got the feeling he was no longer needed. Much as he would have liked to continue his interrogation, he suspected Kira had her own plans for Dukat, and considering the way his head was spinning, it seemed wisest for him to withdraw.

^I hate to interrupt your conversation,^ he declared loudly, ^but I am obviously no longer needed here. Major, I will be in the Infirmary if you require my assistance.^

^Finally hoping to make your move?^ jibed Dukat, tearing his eyes away from Kira to aim a contemptuous glare at Garak.

^I'm sure that applies to both of us,^ said the tailor, bowing slightly as he headed for the door. Before reaching it, he seemed to remember something, and turned back towards Kira. ^Here, you never know when you might need this, major,^ he said, throwing the dagger towards her. It fell just short of her boots, and she crouched down to pick it up.

^What was all that about?^ she asked Dukat as she straightened up.

^Cardassian things... you wouldn't understand.^

Kira observed the d'k tagh curiously, watching as the dark drops of Dukat's blood glistened on the central blade. Dukat swallowed involuntarily; he had had a few encounters with d'k taghs in the past, many of them far more effective than Garak's a few minutes earlier.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been pretty sure that Kira would make no use of the knife. But these were not normal circumstances. As if her daredevil attitude in capturing him weren't enough, she had been flirting with him ever since he beamed aboard. And that was not something Major Kira was wont to do. Though he had been pursuing her for years, he had never expected to see the sort of desire he had seen in her eyes when he was locked in the holding cell. However, he was not one to turn down an opportunity, even if it was armed with a Klingon dagger.

^So now what happens?^ he asked calmly, distracting her from her observation of the d'k tagh. ^You obviously have me entirely at your mercy, major, so I hope you have something interesting to do to me.^


	8. Chapter 8

"Quand je suis seule et que je peux rêver   
Je rêve que je suis dans tes bras   
Je rêve que je te fais tout bas   
Une déclaration, ma déclaration...  
Je ne pourrai jamais te dire tout ça   
J'aimerais tant, mais je n'oserai pas   
J'aime mieux mettre dans ma chanson   
Une déclaration, ma déclaration."(*)  
\-- France Gall, "La déclaration d'amour"

(*) When I am alone, when I can dream, I dream that I am in your arms, I dream that I am declaring my love to you... I will never be able to tell you how I feel. I would love to, but I won't dare, I had rather put my declaration into a song.

xxvii.

Just as he had told Kira, Garak was heading for the Infirmary. He had briefly considered going to his quarters to sleep, but the pain in his head was too intense. A headache wouldn't normally have bothered him, but this time, the pain reminded him far too much of the agony he had undergone a few years earlier when his neural implant had malfunctioned. He was hoping that Doctor Bashir had removed the entire device and not left some piece to come back and haunt him now. Doctor Bashir... there was a time when he would have thought of him as Julian. But a lot of things had changed in the past year.

From close friends, they had drifted into acquaintances, forced apart by circumstances far beyond their control. There was the fact Bashir was no longer the only person Garak could talk to, of course. Recently, he had come to spend more time with others, notably Ziyal. He would never have thought, when the girl first offered to see him, that he would enjoy her company quite so much. Through her, he was rediscovering his own culture and history, striving to teach her more about her people, or at least, about her father's people; he presumed Kira was teaching her what she needed to know about her mother's people.

Strange that he should take such pleasure in teaching a young woman who was the daughter of his sworn enemy. She was obviously infatuated with him, and though the personal theory he had on why that was -- that she simply missed the relationship she had had with her father -- made him somewhat uncomfortable, he had enough affection for her to be anxious not to hurt her feelings. That did not extend to accepting her advances, but he had been careful to keep his rejection polite.

Part of him was beginning to wonder why he had bothered to reject her. It wasn't as if he could hope to win the affection of anyone more to his taste. The station's population offered him mainly a choice between humans and Bajorans, and he could exclude the latter without hesitation. Having done some research on the subject, enough to feed his fantasies, at any rate, he knew that humans *could* be interested in him. But Bashir obviously wasn't, even at the height of their friendship, and that was apparently as close as he could get to the sort of relationship he wanted.

Until Ziyal kissed him in the holosuite, Garak had toyed with the idea of giving in to her affection. After all, she could give him a considerable amount of love, something he had not had for years, and he had to admit that it would be the ultimate blow to Dukat's family honour. All he had to do was muster up enough enthusiasm for her body to give her what she thought she wanted from him.

But then, when he was given an opportunity to put this plan into action, he shied away from it, and flat out rejected her. The feeling of her lips on his cheek had jolted him into the realisation he couldn't love her, not the way she wanted to be loved. And she couldn't give him what he wanted either. In spite of a life of deception, this was one lie he found he was unwilling to live.

In any case, Dukat's capture had reminded him exactly what would be involved if he did take Ziyal as his lover. Dukat wasn't the only one who would be hurt -- Ziyal's reaction when she learned her father might be coming was an indication that the dictator was still very present in his daughter's mind, and that would perforce come between them. Then, of course, he should not forget whose granddaughter she was, and some irrational instinct of his told him no amount of Bajoran blood would quite wash out the strain of treachery bred in that family.

He was disappointed that Kira had not given him an opportunity to exact a little direct revenge on Dukat, but he suspected he would not have enjoyed it as much as he should. Not that he had any qualms about torturing a man Ziyal loved so much, but the headache was really quite annoying, and had made it difficult for him to achieve the level of concentration a verbal joust with a fellow Cardassian required. Besides, he got the feeling Kira wanted to be the first to settle some scores with Dukat. He grinned as he wondered how she would go about that.

He was still deep in thought about Dukat, Ziyal and Kira when he entered the Infirmary and found Bashir still at work. He was surprised, because the night staff was usually in charge at this hour. But maybe this was an opportunity he should seize. He saw the doctor before the doctor saw him, and stopped in his tracks for a moment to observe him.

Bashir was leaning over his console, intently reading the multilingual displays on the computer screens. Garak had a long look at the human's smooth olive skin, the soft curves of his alien profile, the movement of his long eyelashes as his eyes scanned the displays. He had loved this man, he remembered. It had been easy to pretend there was nothing to it, until eventually the lies became the truth; a lifetime of secrets and lies formed habits which were hard to break, and the revelation would have done far more harm than the deception. But he knew he had once sincerely wanted this human as a companion and a lover.

And he knew he could never have him.

As he watched, Bashir looked up from his console, perhaps to seek inspiration in a change of view. He saw Garak standing in the entrance to his office. The two of them stared at each other, the dimmed light of the night cycle combining with their respective states of pain and exhaustion to give the whole scene a feeling of unreality.

xxviii.

Keiko was enjoying a well-deserved sleep after a hard day fighting with replicators and recyclers, when she was woken up by a movement in the bed beside her.

<Miles,> she moaned, suspecting even in her half-awake state that he had been brainstorming about work in his sleep again.

<It's all right, Keiko,> he said gently. Judging by the way the bed was moving, she surmised that he was getting up.

<What time is it?>

<Late,> he said noncommittally.

She closed her eyes again and tried to empty her mind to go back to sleep. Slow breathing, in, out, in, out, nothing in her mind, nothing but silence and darkness... and Miles crashing around in them.

She opened her eyes and sat up.

<Computer, lights,> she ordered, before remembering she had to use some complicated Cardassian word to turn the lights on. So instead, she leant over to the bedside table and fumbled with the controls until the room was sufficiently illuminated for her to look at her husband.

<What's going on, Miles?>

<Dravium,> he said simply as he fought his way into his black and grey uniform.

<What?>

<Dravium is used as a conductor in most communications devices used by species in this Quadrant. That's what the nanites are after.>

<What in the universe for?>

<That I don't know yet, but I need to get down to engineering and take a closer look at the dravium particle counts.>

<Isn't that sort of thing up to Dax?> she called after him as he left the room, though she knew full well there was no point arguing with him.

O'Brien went straight to Dax's quarters to impart this great news to the science officer, who would hopefully come up with some solution based on his discovery.

The Trill was obviously still half asleep when she opened her door.

&Chief,& she murmured drowsily. &What has happened? What's wrong?&

It took her a minute to remember she should be speaking Standard, not Trill. But by then, the chief had decided to get straight to the point.

<Dravium!> he exclaimed.<That's what's attracting the nanites. They're designed to eat dravium.>

Dax nodded slowly, understanding dawning as her mind woke up. <That his logical, hit is used hin communications circuits. But why hare the nanites haffecting people too? Why his Benjamin so hill?>

<I was after thinking 'bout that on my way here. When he was in the mirror universe last time, Smiley O'Brien equipped him with a subdermal communicator. Though it was removed, it may have left trace particles of dravium in his system.>

<So hit is because hof the dravium,> said Dax, snapping her fingers in delight. <Let us go to Hops hand we will find ha way for to defeat the nanites!>

xxix.

Garak wanted to say something witty about Bashir working so late, but he could not remember the Standard word for sleep. For some reason, the only word that came to mind was the Klingon one.

<Garak,> said Bashir, not knowing what else to say. He had just been wondering what Kira and Garak were doing to Dukat; the Cardassian's sudden appearance right beside him gave him an eerie feeling. He wasn't sure how much Federation Standard his friend knew and didn't know how to start a conversation under those circumstances.

<My head hurt,> explained Garak, pleased to find the sight of the doctor hadn't deprived him of all his Standard after all.

<Well, we'll see what we can do about that,> said the doctor with a weary smile. <You must be the twentieth person who has come to me about that today. These nanites are wreaking havoc with everyone.>

<'Nanite'?> Garak remembered what Rom had told them that morning, but he didn't see the connection between the robots and his headache. Unless the doctor was inferring that the strain of trying to communicate without translators was a pain in the head.

<The nanites aren't just disabling our communications systems,> explained Bashir, waving his tricorder wand at the Cardassian. <They also seem to be causing mood changes and headaches in various people. I'm sorry to hear you're one of them.>

Garak understood all this perfectly, and the thought of having tiny robots crawling around his veins didn't worry him particularly. At least it was a relief to know the headache wasn't due to the implant.

<Yup. You've got nanites, too. What I don't understand is why some people have them and others don't,> exclaimed the doctor as he put his wand away. <All the Ferengi have them, half the Bajorans, but none of the humans except for Captain Sisko. And now you've got them too. But I can't for the life of me see what's attracting them to you all while most of the population is unaffected.>

This was obviously what the doctor had been working on so late. In fact, he looked positively exhausted. Having wracked his brains and finally found the word he needed, the Cardassian placed his hand on the doctor's.

<You need sleep. You think better tomorrow,> he said, forcing himself to keep his sentences very simple before he got bogged down in linguistic complications.

Bashir looked down at Garak's hand still resting on his. After a moment's hesitation, he used his other hand to remove it gently.

<Yes, I suppose I should go to bed,> he agreed, a little troubled by Garak's ice blue eyes fixed on him. He knew the Cardassian was right, but he felt he was getting close to a breakthrough and was loath to stop now.

He went over to his desk to get a painkiller and administered it absent-mindedly to his patient. Garak again took his hand, but this time, the doctor didn't draw away; he had just noticed something on his tricorder.

<Wait a minute... Garak, the nanites are congregating in your post-central gyrus. That's where your neural implant was...> he stepped towards his desk, but found Garak was still holding his hand and keeping a firm grip on it to stop him from moving away. <Garak, I have to look something up,> pleaded the doctor. <I think I've found why the nanites are affecting some people and not others.>

The Cardassian paid no attention to what he was saying and pulled Bashir close again. Garak was a little surprised himself at how attractive he was finding the doctor just then, especially after his earlier musings on giving in to Ziyal, but this had been a long time coming. For some reason, all the fears of rejection and complications had vanished, leaving nothing but the attraction he had known for so long.

<It is not important,> said Garak with a smile. <You give a painkiller, and then they have no headache.>

He let his pale eyes run over the doctor's light brown skin. Like Bajorans, humans could have skin colours that ranged from a pale, transparent pink, to a rich dark brown, and it was a detail which had always intrigued him. The colour of their skin had nothing to do with the colour of their blood. He knew the doctor's blood was a medium red, like that of Captain Sisko or Chief O'Brien, and it puzzled him that Bashir's skin itself seemed to have a colour of its own. Cardassian skin had no pigment. But it didn't really matter where the human had got his beautiful skin.

<No, Garak,> said Bashir. <This *is* important. If I can find out what is attracting the nanites to certain people, then we'll know why they attacked the station and how to get them out.> He paused and thought about this for a moment, before smiling and exclaiming, <Of course! Dravium. It's a standard component of communications devices throughout the Quadrant. The Bajorans even used it in their subdermal implants during the Occupation. That's the connection!>

But the doctor's smile faded as Garak ran a gentle finger along his lips. The gesture was presumably designed to shut him up, and it certainly succeeded. Bashir was quite speechless with astonishment as his eyes met the Cardassian's intense gaze.

It had occurred to him once or twice before that Garak might not view him solely as a pupil, a friend, or even a source of information on the Federation. There were times when the Cardassian would gaze at him almost tenderly, or place a gentle hand on his shoulder, and Bashir had sometimes wondered if Garak was attracted to him. But the doctor had always preferred to dismiss his suspicions, even managing to convince himself that he was reading far too much into Garak's attitude. After all, the tailor was lonely, exiled far from his people on a hostile station, and at one time, Bashir was just about the only person who would talk to him. Under those circumstances, it was only natural that Garak should demonstrate some measure of affection for his only companion.

But Bashir could be in no doubt as to the Cardassian's intentions now. Garak's hands had moved down to encircle his waist and pull him close and Bashir found himself caught in a strong embrace. For a moment, the doctor leant against Garak and wondered what to do next.

xxx.

Dukat was also wondering what to do next. Ever since Garak had left, Kira had been pacing in front of him, tickling the palm of her hand with the sharp point of the Klingon d'k tagh, and observing him with a slightly sadistic smile. Though he was confident he could defend himself if she actually decided to attack him, he was nonetheless thoroughly puzzled. The fact she seemed to want him all of a sudden, though it flattered him, also made him extremely nervous. He didn't understand or control this situation at all, and he didn't like that one bit.

^Not so talkative now, are we?^ she teased after a moment of silence. She stopped pacing and stood in front of him, her dark eyes continuing to unnerve him with their ceaseless exploration of his person.

^I think you'll have no trouble recognising me the next time you see me, major,^ he said, disguising his confusion. ^Perhaps you would like to take a holograph of me. It would save you the bother of trying to memorise every aspect of my person right now.^

^I was just looking to see if being a Dominion lackey has changed you,^ she replied.

^A 'Dominion lackey'? Really, major, you sound like a speech-writer for the old Central Command. And I can assure you that I am not, nor ever shall be, anyone's 'lackey'. In fact, my aim has always been to...^

She interrupted him with a guffaw. ^Oh, you're a lackey, all right. You've even found yourself some nice little excuses for what you have done. But the truth is, you have sold Cardassia out to a power which will completely destroy her.^

^I have not 'sold out' Cardassia, major; the Empire is an equal and willing partner in the Dominion. And I might add it is most unlike you to be so concerned about Cardassia. I am quite touched,^ he added more lightly, to remind her that *he* was now Cardassia.

^It's not Cardassia I'm worried about, but by allying yourself with the Dominion you've given them a foothold in our part of the galaxy which they will use to systematically take over the entire Quadrant!^

He relaxed a little now that they were on familiar territory; he was used to arguing about politics with Kira.

^Which they would have done anyway, major. You have seen the Jem'Hadar -- even the Klingons pale in comparison to their ruthlessness. The Dominion did not need Cardassia; even without us, and as long as the Federation was too short-sighted to collapse that Wormhole, they would have eventually brought the Jem'Hadar in and put an end to all the empires on this side. My achievement was to save Cardassia from that fate by allying her with the Dominion now, while there is still time, before they launch their full-scale offensive. And Bajor had better think very carefully about its place in all this, because this station is next.^

^Which brings us precisely to the question I've been meaning to ask you. When?^

He was quiet for a moment, running his eyes deliberately over her body in a gesture meant to intimidate and demean rather than flatter. Under normal circumstances, she would most probably have reacted angrily to his appraisal of her person. But just as she had done earlier, she ignored his gesture, even letting a little smile curl her red lips.

Flustered by her reaction, Dukat concentrated on their conversation.

^This may have been my day for making big mistakes, major, but you don't seriously think I'm going to tell you the Dominion's plans.^

^I imagine we can safely presume the station features in the Dominion's plans,^ she said calmly. She parted her lips seductively and then let a mischievous smile brighten her rosy features.

Dukat swallowed involuntarily, and decided there was no point trying to conduct a conversation about politics when both of them obviously had their mind on something else.

^You know, major, I don't really think you brought me here to talk about the Dominion,^ he said conversationally.

^Oh yes, I certainly did,^ she said, placing her hands on her hips and thus drawing his attention to that part of her person. ^I saw an opportunity to capture the greatest traitor the Quadrant ever had, and I seized it.^

^As far as I can remember, I never pledged my undying allegiance to the Alpha Quadrant, and I have served Cardassia rather well so far, so you are mistaken when you call me a traitor.^ He looked down at her hands again and added, ^Anyway, I don't think any of this is about the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant, or even about Bajor and Cardassia. This is about you and me.^

She laughed, lifting her head up and letting her shoulders shake in her mirth. He let his eyes trail down her white throat to the tight collar of her tunic, and then back up to her face as she fixed her eyes on him again.

^What 'you and me', Dukat? There is no 'you and me'. And you know what?^ she added, drawing even closer. Her voice had taken on a higher tone, which was decidedly mocking. ^After all these years, it's about time you got that into your thick head,^ she said, widening her eyes in an exaggerated expression of childish earnestness.

^Ah, yes, I had forgotten your desires have changed,^ he said, leaning towards her and thus forcing her to take a step back. ^You used to go for powerful Bajorans. I gather you have gained more exotic tastes these days.^

Her face went ashen, and he saw the muscles beneath the skin of her jaw tense up as she clenched her teeth in rage.

^I'd watch what I was saying if I were you,^ she growled.

He had obviously hit a nerve, but he wasn't sure which one. He had heard some vague rumours that Odo was interested in Kira. Though he had found that extremely difficult to believe, their behaviour in the brig suggested that the rumour was not only true, but that Kira might even have some intention of pursuing a relationship with Odo.

^Well, I just hope you and Odo will be very happy,^ he said more gently.

He still couldn't believe anyone would want to sleep with a shapeshifter. Well, sleep with them, perhaps. Dukat had enough imagination to get an idea what interesting possibilities that would offer. But he didn't see how she could be interested in someone as duty-bound and rigid as Odo. He was not exactly the most fun-loving person; but then Bareil and Shakaar were hardly a bundle of laughs, either. Dukat just had to conclude that Kira had no taste. Which would explain why she was ostensibly totally impervious to his own charm.

^I'm sure we will,^ she said a little hesitantly.

^Which still doesn't explain why you kidnapped me.^

^I already told you that...^

^Ah yes, for the sake of the Alpha Quadrant, not your own personal motivations.^

^If I were motivated only by personal reasons, you would be dead by now.^

^Then kill me,^ he dared her.

She lifted the dagger and took a step nearer to point it at him.

^Don't tempt me.^

She ran the point of the d'k tagh along his left neck cartilage and stopped when it reached halfway, not far from where Garak had cut him earlier. A deep stab there would rupture his jugular, and he was passably impressed by the accuracy of her choice. If she was going to kill him, she could do so now. But he still didn't believe she would kill him.

He leant forward slightly and the point of the dagger pressed into his thick skin. Kira seemed quite fascinated by this turn of events. She pulled the dagger away and watched the black blood trickle down the blade.

^Maybe Garak was right. You do enjoy these games,^ she said pensively.

^Believe me, major, I don't. And neither do you.^

^Oh, I don't know,^ she said, running the knife gently up his throat. ^It's quite fun having you at my mercy.^

She removed the knife again and pressed it thoughtfully to her lips.

^And I am invited to believe all this is in the best interest of the Alpha Quadrant... Not because you want me,^ he remarked casually.

She gazed up at him, her dark eyes shining with hostility. For a moment, he thought she would stab him again, and rather regretted his recklessness. She looked dangerous enough to do anything. But the thing she did took him entirely by surprise. In one smooth movement, she threw the d'k tagh over her shoulder, and, pressing her chest against his armour, placed her lips on his.

He took a step back, but found he was up against the window sill. She grinned gleefully and kissed him again, holding his head still in her hands. He responded as best he could, considering how extremely uncomfortable he was, with the sharp edge of the window sill pressing into his flesh. Lifting his cuffed hands, he tried to push her away so he could manoeuvre himself into a more comfortable position, but she resisted, pinning him harder against the window.

^What's the matter, Dukat?^ she enquired flirtatiously. ^I thought this was just what you always wanted.^

^You'll find I don't perform well under duress,^ he informed her.

Her laughter was low and mocking. ^Just what I thought. All talk and no action,^ she purred.

^Untie my hands, major, and we'll soon see about that.^


	9. Chapter 9

"Heat's up, tea's brewed   
Clothes strewn around the room   
Looks like a wind swept through,   
Made a wild man out of you,   
And doesn't anger turn you on   
And expectation of a calm   
After the storm   
And your body feels so warm   
After the storm"  
\-- Carly Simon, "After the storm"

xxxi.

One runabout, three Bajoran cruisers, four Galor-class Cardassian vessels, six Jem'Hadar escorts, and a Federation starship were converging on the station. The runabout and the Bajoran ships got there first.

xxxii.

The Operations centre was virtually deserted when O'Brien and Dax arrived there. The Bajoran night staff was sitting in the pit playing cards, and, no doubt, swapping stories about Dukat's capture a few hours earlier and speculating as to what Kira and Dukat were up to now. There were some Starfleet personnel on duty as well, and they were manning their stations as usual.

O'Brien rounded up all the Starfleet staff and explained what he and Dax had discovered. He assigned various tasks to the Starfleet personnel, and gestured the Bajorans to keep to their card game. Since they couldn't understand anything he said, there seemed no point counting on them to help.

<I ran a sensor sweep hon the hentire station,> reported Dax after a while. <There his no trace hof dravium left in hany hof the circuits. Lots hof nanites, but no dravium.>

<I'd say that confirms our theory, then,> said O'Brien, obviously pleased with this information. <Now we know why the nanites have invaded the station and some of its inhabitants, the question is how do we get them out?>

<Per'aps they will leave now there his no dravium,> suggested Dax, coming over to join him at his console. <There his no nanites hin the houter 'abitat ring now, and hall the dravium his gone from there, too. So I think they hare moving.>

O'Brien studied the results of her sweep and nodded. <You're right,> he agreed. <But that is only a tiny part of the station, and how do we know where they're going now? We need to control their movement.>

<Then we need to give them ha reason to move. We 'ave to lure them hout.>

<Well, there's not a milligram of dravium left on the station, so we won't be able to use any more dravium to draw them out.>

Dax thought about that for a moment. <Then we need to find hout 'ow the nanites know there his dravium somewhere. They hare non-sentient, so we must hassume someone programmed them to seek hout dravium hand destroy communications devices.>

<Right,> said O'Brien pensively. <Dravium emits a very low intensity radiation. It's not something our tricorders are designed to distinguish, for instance, but it is sufficiently distinctive for something to home in on. If we could reconfigure some device, one of the internal sensors, for instance, to emit the same type of frequency, we might be able to draw them to that place.>

<We could do that hin one hof the cargo bays,> suggested Dax. She was about to offer to go down into one of the cargo bays herself, when their conversation was interrupted by the ensign who was monitoring the external sensors.

<Sir,> he said, addressing Dax, <there's a runabout and three Bajoran ships approaching the station. The runabout is flashing its warning beacon. They will reach us in about ten minutes.>

<It's about time someone noticed us,> said O'Brien with a smile.

<I am also picking up a fleet just crossing the Cardassian border,> continued the ensign, apprehension clear in his voice. <Four Galor-class ships and six Jem'Hadar escort cruisers. There may be more beyond, but the sensors aren't picking them up yet.>

<Great, so we've got Bajorans on one side, and the Cardassians coming down on us on the other,> muttered O'Brien. <And we're stuck in the middle without so much as a comm badge!>

<Hand capturing the nanites will not 'elp,> said Dax, <because the circuits need dravium for to work.> She looked around Ops as she thought about that, and her eye caught something lying on the upper level, just in front of the viewscreen. <What's that?> she asked, pointing to it.

O'Brien shook his head to indicate he had no idea. One of the Bajorans, noticing that Dax was pointing at the object, picked it up and handed it to her.

^Dukat,^ he said simply.

<Hit must be Dukat's communicator,> exclaimed Dax, though O'Brien couldn't see what was so interesting in the revelation. <You remember what we found when we got that Jem'Adar ship...> she started, noticing his blank look.

<Of course,> he declared, just stopping short of slapping himself on the forehead. <The Dominion don't use dravium -- if our theory is correct, this communicator must still work! Perhaps it can even translate for us.>

Dax was already fiddling with it to try and turn it on. "I wonder 'ow this thing works," she said as she flipped one of its switches.

"Sounds like you've just found out," he grinned.

"Hey! This is great," she exclaimed with a bright smile. It was obviously a big relief for her to switch to her native language, and he could immediately hear the difference. "Maybe we can use it to communicate with the Bajoran ships!"

"Not to mention it might help us to communicate with the staff here," said O'Brien. "We could have done with having this thing a few hours ago."

xxxiii.

^Where *is* everyone?^ exclaimed Ziyal, peering through the door at the empty security office. ^I know my mother always said Bajorans were lazy, but this is ridiculous.^

^Your mother said Bajorans were lazy?^ queried Jake, who found Ziyal's racist comment rather disturbing.

They were alone on the Promenade; everyone else had probably been ushered off into their quarters by Odo's curfew. It was eerily strange to see the social centre of the station so empty and abandoned. Under normal circumstances, people could be seen walking and talking here well into the night.

^Yes,^ answered Ziyal, more concerned at present with her father's whereabouts than her mother's opinions. ^But then, she also said Dahkurians were thick... Something I have been careful not to tell Nerys.^

She paused in her inspection of the locked door mechanism and turned to look at him. His brown features were serious, his thick eyebrows knitted together in an expression of worried puzzlement. She remembered what Garak had told her about how easy humans were to tease, and smiled as she realised he was taking her remarks far too seriously. ^It was just a joke, Mister Sisko,^ she told him.

He grinned and she warmed to his generous smile. She was not used to socialising with humans, and took this opportunity to observe the young man more thoroughly than she had in the past. He was a rather peculiar looking creature, she thought. He was extremely tall, and though Ziyal herself was used to just about everyone towering over her, she had noticed that Jake was second only to Dax and Worf when it came to height. She was also intrigued by the creamy raktajino colour of his skin, so similar to that of Bajorans from the Northern Peninsula.

She didn't find him attractive; his features were too unfamiliar for that, and, whether it was because of her father, or because of some genetic conditioning of her mixed race, she was conscious that she tended to find beauty only in the faces of Cardassian men. As far as interests and life experiences went, they probably didn't have anything in common, either. But she had to admit Jake was a charming young man, and his Federation accent in Bajoran was rather sweet.

^Why did your mother think Dahkurians were thick?^ he asked.

^Mainly because she was a Netapkan,^ she explained, ignoring the door completely as she tried to remember what her mother used to tell her. ^Netapka was a Dahkurian colony at one time... actually, I think Mother's main objection to them was that they were all farmers. But then Mother had an opinion on everything... usually a bad one. She used to call Father her 'walking disaster area',^ she laughed.

^I imagine she didn't say that to his face,^ he said, his wide smile lighting up his black eyes.

^Of course she did,^ she responded, surprised at his reaction. ^And once he had finished being all het up about it, he thought it was quite funny.^ Her smile faded as she remembered how different her father had been when her mother was around. Mother didn't let him get away with anything and, perhaps because everyone else on Bajor kow-towed to him so abjectly, he let her get away with everything.

^You must miss her a lot,^ said Jake softly, noticing her reaction.

She looked up at him, suddenly remembering one thing they did have in common. ^Yes. Probably as much you miss your mother.^

He lowered his eyes for a moment and nodded silently.

^At least you have your father,^ she started, before deciding that wasn't a subject she wanted to discuss right now. She turned toward the door control hastily. ^If we could get into this office, we might find out where my father is. He can't be in the brig, or there would be more security around. But Odo will very probably have kept a log of where Garak and Major Kira took him.^

^It's a pity the computer won't tell us where he is.^

Ziyal shrugged her shoulders. All the computer had been willing to confirm was that her father was still aboard the station; when Ziyal asked where he was, it answered that this information was classified. The same went for Nerys. Odo had presumably instructed the computer to keep their location secret, though neither Ziyal nor Jake had any idea why. Perhaps it was another instance of the security chief's paranoia.

Jake came over and looked at the door controls. ^I think I can remember some of my father's access codes, but that's not going to be a great help. Unless you know the Kardasi translation for <alpha>.^

<Alpha?> repeated Ziyal. ^What's <alpha>?^

^It's the name of a letter in Federation Standard,^ explained Jake, deciding she didn't need a lengthy exposé about it being a Greek letter.

^Then there isn't any translation for it.^

^Right,^ said Jake, looking into the security office as Ziyal had done earlier. ^Anyway, I'm not sure my father's access codes will unlock Odo's terminal.^

Ziyal leant against the bulkhead. Now that she had decided she wanted to see her father, she was acutely disappointed to find that a mere material question like the fact she didn't know his whereabouts was going to come in her way. She realised that if she didn't see him before he left, she would never forgive herself. They had so much to talk about, and this would have been such a good opportunity.

^There must be someone who can open Odo's office!^ she lamented dejectedly.

They both thought about that for a moment, and then looked at each other as they found the answer.

^Quark!^ they both exclaimed.

xxxiv.

The Cardassian's embrace was surprisingly comfortable. There was certainly plenty of him to lean against, and Bashir wondered if Garak had put on weight. Not that Garak had ever been particularly thin, or that the doctor had ever had occasion to be embraced by him before. So he didn't really have any frame of reference to determine whether the Cardassian was fatter now than he had been in the past. Garak wasn't really fat, either, just comfortable to lean against.

Bashir breathed in deeply and realised his mind was wandering. He was absolutely exhausted, and he knew that if he closed his eyes now, he would fall asleep right then and there, leaning against Garak. The idea was oddly appealing and his eyelids shut almost entirely of their own volition.

He thought they must make a strange sight, both standing in the middle of the Infirmary, Bashir's head leaning on Garak's shoulder as the Cardassian's arms encircled him. Just as he was thinking about this, the doctor felt Garak's arms move, and a strong hand stroked the nape of his neck. It applied gentle pressure there, cupping the human's head to tilt it upwards. Bashir opened his eyes and the tailor's grey face came into focus only a few centimetres away from his own.

The doctor felt his heartbeat quicken unpleasantly as he realised what Garak planned to do. He struggled to pull away from the embrace, but Garak did not let go of him, though he made no further attempt to kiss him.

<What is wrong?>

<Garak, this really isn't the right time,> said Bashir, thankful for some sort of dialogue. <The fact is that you're behaving like this because of the nanites, and you will really be terribly embarrassed once we've got them out of you. Surely you must realise this isn't the sort of thing you usually do.> Not that I would know, of course, he thought to himself. Maybe Garak *was* in the habit of seducing young men.

<You are beautiful,> said Garak simply.

Bashir was in no mood to argue that point. <Look, I have to contact Dax or O'Brien, and tell them about the dravium. They'll probably be able to get the nanites out once they know what's attracting them, and then they can-->

The Cardassian's lips were a lot softer than he would ever have imagined. He had always presumed it would be unpleasant to be kissed by a man, especially an alien man. But it just felt like any other kiss he had experienced in his life. It was not, however, a kiss he wanted to be receiving. This time his struggle was a little more effective and he broke loose from the Cardassian's embrace.

They looked at each other in silence for a moment. Garak's wide blue eyes were fixed on Bashir, but the doctor couldn't read their expression. It was an expression he had never seen before, akin to surprise or disappointment, but a novel rearrangement of Garak's grey features. Bashir felt his heart sink; whatever the Cardassian was feeling, it was very intense.

<I'm sorry, Garak,> was all the doctor could say. <I'm really sorry.>

The blue eyes shifted away from his face and Garak nodded slowly. This time, Bashir knew exactly what the Cardassian was feeling, and he felt terrible for causing his friend such pain. But he knew he couldn't go along with this, and take Garak as a lover, simply to spare him the pain of rejection. The doctor had never been attracted to men, though quite a few men had been attracted to him -- he was too slight and beautiful not to raise suspicion that he was open to such advances.

To Bashir's surprise, Garak suddenly smiled, and even chuckled to himself, shaking his head gently.

<It is well,> he said softly. <I understand. I need sleep now.>

And with that, he walked out and left the nonplussed doctor alone in the middle of the Infirmary.

xxxv.

"This is General Katan of the Bajoran Militia," said a stern voice from the Dominion communicator. It softened a little as it added, "Deep Space Nine... we are very pleased to hear from you. We were getting worried."

Dax smiled at O'Brien and sighed with relief. It had taken a while before the two of them could remodulate Dukat's communicator to hail the Bajoran ships which were orbiting the station. But now, at last, they were able to talk to the outside world for the first time in twenty-six hours.

"General, the feeling is mutual," said the Trill. "It's been a hard day. The station has been infected by nanites, which have eaten every scrap of dravium in our translator and communications devices. We're having to use a Dominion communicator for this transmission. Could you contact Starfleet for us and explain what is happening here?"

"There's no need to," responded the general. "We got a transmission from Starfleet this afternoon, saying that they suspected a virulent strain of nanorobots had infected your station. The U.S.S Euskadi is on its way. They apparently know all about this; they're even bringing in a specialist who will know how to repair the damage."

Dax and O'Brien exchanged surprised looks.

"In the meantime, we have another problem," continued the Bajoran. "If your long range sensors are still functioning, you'll know there's a Cardassian/Dominion fleet approaching. The Vorta Weyoun has been claiming that Gul Dukat is being held prisoner aboard your station. If this is the case, you must free him at once, so he can be returned to his people."

"Yes," said Dax cautiously. "We've been having a few more problems than simply losing our communications."

"But is Dukat aboard your station?"

"Yes, he is," said O'Brien calmly, though Dax could see the hesitant look in his eyes. The truth was that neither of them had any idea what had happened to Dukat since the previous evening. "He beamed aboard the station and then his ship left him here. But he's fine..."

"You can assure Weyoun we'll return Dukat to his ship as soon as it arrives," added Dax. "Now, we need to wake up the senior staff here and prepare for the arrival of the Euskadi..."

There was a silence at the other end, as the general debated whether or not to protest Dax's obvious effort to get rid of him. "Understood, commander," he said finally, and the comm channel was terminated.

Dax sighed with relief again. "I really hope Garak and Kira haven't done anything rash with Dukat."

"Judging by what Jake said, anything is possible," said O'Brien, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I think the quickest way to find out is to ask the computer, since we can."

Dax nodded and placed the communicator near one of the computer's input sensors.

"Computer," said Dax. "Location of Gul Dukat."

"There is no person of that name on board the station."

"It wouldn't be that simple, commander," grinned O'Brien. "Dukat didn't exactly beam aboard with our permission."

Dax shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "It was worth a try. Computer, location and identification of all Cardassian lifeforms on board the station."

"There are three Cardassian lifeforms currently on board the station," drawled the artificial voice. "Elim Garak, currently located in the Infirmary. Tora Ziyal, currently located on level 7, section G6. Identity unknown, location classified."

"'Identity unknown, location classified'?" repeated O'Brien. "That doesn't help us much."

"It has to be Dukat," said Dax reasonably. "But why did they conceal his location? Surely they left him in the brig... Computer is there anyone in the holding cells?"

"Negative. There are no life-forms in that area."

"They obviously moved him somewhere less visible," remarked the chief. "Computer, who gave the order to conceal that Cardassian's location?"

"The order was given by Chief of Security Odo," responded the computer.

"Great, so everyone is in on this," muttered O'Brien. "Where the hell could they have put him?"

"And, perhaps more to the point, what have they done to him?"

xxxvi.

She leant against the transparent aluminium of the window and let out a little sigh. Her eyes wandered over the black expanse of the universe, broken only by a smattering of stars and the soft fuzzy trails where a myriad of astral bodies combined into galaxy arms. This was the area of space the Wormhole opened onto, breaking out into a sudden flurry of unnatural blues when a ship reached its mouth. She did not even ponder the mixed blessings the Prophet's strange construction had showered upon her small world; it was too late at night and she was too relaxed to think straight.

^Here's your raktajino,^ he said softly.

She took the cup he held out to her and sipped from it as she continued to look out at the stars. The warmth of the Klingon coffee seemed to course through her veins and she shivered slightly as he ran his fingers through her hair. The combination of the two sensations left her quite dazed.

^The star to the far right of the nebula there is Cardassia,^ he informed her, pointing it out with his grey finger.

She looked at the finger for a moment and then wrapped her own fingers around it, pulling his hand down out of her view.

^Trust you to know that,^ she said gently.

^I'm sure every species on this station knows where to look to find their homeworld,^ he responded.

She was about to say that every species on the station was probably asking themselves how much longer they would be able to observe the stars from this point in space. Some day, this man and his Dominion allies would invade, aiming to take over or destroy the station, and that might be the end of Deep Space Nine. But for now, she did not feel like an argument.

He put down his cup of red leaf tea and gently slipped his arms around her waist.

^Tell me, do you always wear the same clothes, or do you just replicate the same pattern every now and then?^ he asked teasingly.

She looked down and placed her hands on his as he tried to untuck her white latticed blouse from her uniform trousers.

^I could say the same of you, you know,^ she said, each of her hands pulling one of his away from her.

^True. I suppose that's what you get for being a soldier. I don't think I would make a very good tailor.^

^No taste,^ she stated teasingly.

He thought about that for a moment and then smiled.

^I suppose not.^

She leant her head against his shoulder, half-berating herself for this display of weakness while unable to conceal the tenderness she felt at that moment. He was going to make fun of her for this; he was going to use it against her, and then she could return to the hatred. Sweet Prophets, it was so difficult to remember that hatred just now, as she felt the warmth of his hands in hers, as they engaged in a soft struggle, him trying to embrace her, her making a half-hearted attempt to prevent it. She lost.

^And now what do we do?^ he asked softly, his hands stroking the rough material of her uniform.

She looked around at him in surprise. Was he really as uncertain about this as she was? This *had* been his idea after all. Or at least, he had thought of it first, all those months ago.

^I suppose I will have to let you go if your ship comes back,^ she murmured.

He nodded as she rested her head against him again.

^I should be happy I am not to be executed after all,^ he said, though he didn't sound particularly enthusiastic.

^Oh there's plenty of time for me to kill you yet,^ she told him.

^I'm sure there is.^

They let the conversation lag for a moment, and he kissed the corner of her jaw. Strange to be so willingly embraced by this man, how comfortable she felt as he rocked her ever so gently. Strange when she remembered just how much Bajoran blood there was on those grey hands. Strange how little that mattered just now.

^I don't suppose you would join me,^ he started.

^What, on *Cardassia*?^ she exclaimed.

She felt the breath of a sigh run through her hair.

^No...^ He paused, and then continued, ^Not on Cardassia. I meant... It didn't feel quite right at the time, but now, I find I miss the two of us not being enemies, that truce we had.^

^It was never a truce, you know,^ she said gently.

^And there I was under the impression you could actually stand being in the same room as me for a time.^

^That's never been easy.^

^It seems to be easier now.^

^This won't change anything.^

^No, of course not.^

He didn't sound the least bit convinced.

She let a long moment of silence pass by, just enjoying the warm pressure of his arms encircling her, the gentle touch of the kisses he trailed down the side of her face. Then she sighed and turned her head up towards the ceiling, leaning it against his shoulder.

^Oh, sweet Prophets, what have I done?^ she murmured.

^Something I'm going to regret later?^ he answered teasingly.

She bit her lip and let the worry she felt inside pucker her brow.

^My career is over if anyone finds out about this.^

^Then they mustn't find out. It's just as well you remembered to turn the security sensors off, or Odo would have had a strange surprise when he came in tomorrow morning.^

She pulled her head away from him and looked down at the dark raktajino.

^I know I won't tell anyone,^ she said, preferring to ignore the bit about Odo and the security sensors. ^But I don't know if I can I trust you.^

^Of course you can,^ he responded, his voice still hushed though there was some outrage in his tone. ^I don't brag about my sexual encounters. I don't need that.^

^Oh come on,^ she snapped. ^You must be delighted. After all these years of me being your enemy and now... and now this. The first officer of Deep Space Nine in your arms.^

^I *am* delighted, but it has nothing to do with this station,^ he protested, releasing her from his embrace. ^There is nothing in this for me other than my personal satisfaction. If I wanted to seize a political opportunity, I'd sleep with Kai Winn.^ He guffawed at that idea and she reluctantly responded with a smile.

^Nerys,^ he started, though her smile faded at his use of her personal name. ^...Kira, major... dearest, whatever you want me to call you... I wouldn't do anything to harm you,^ he told her, stroking the side of her face. ^What kind of monster do you think I am?^

She winced and looked out of the window. ^I wouldn't know where to start.^

^So is that it? You capture me, hand me over to Garak, snatch me away from him again, tease me all evening, and finally ravish me... and then just turn your back on me and expect me to go away?^

She sighed and shook her head.

^I don't know how to deal with this,^ she admitted.

^I understand. It isn't exactly easy for me, either.^

This time, she turned back towards him.

^What's so difficult for you?^ she demanded a little brusquely.

He tilted his head to one side, giving her an amused look. She was surprised to find this familiar gesture did not irritate her as much as it once had.

^How do you think my friends in the Dominion would take to the idea of me sleeping with someone who works for the Federation?^ he said.

She smiled a little wickedly. ^Yes, I suppose Weyoun wouldn't be very pleased.^

^I think Weyoun would *explode*,^ he laughed. ^In fact, I think I will tell him as soon as I'm back on my ship.^

She laughed too, but her laugh was far more unpleasant. ^I gather you are still enjoying the company of your Dominion 'friends' as much as ever.^

He sighed and after a moment's hesitation, moved forward to put his arms around her waist again. ^Let's not talk about politics,^ he murmured. She was about to protest; now that she was clear-minded again, she wasn't so sure she wanted him so close to her. But he leant forward and added, ^Please.^


	10. Chapter 10

"All is shown   
All shut down   
All the world is gone   
All the pieces came together   
Finally but not too late"  
\-- Alphaville - "Anyway"

xxxvii.

As expected, Quark was able to break into Odo's security logs, though it took him half an hour to do so. The logs revealed that Kira, Garak and Dukat had beamed to empty quarters in the outer habitat ring two hours earlier. An hour later, the security sensors had been deactivated in the room, by which time Garak had left the apartment. There was no record of either Dukat or Kira leaving the area after that, so it had to be assumed that they were still in the same location. Ziyal did not have time to view the pictures from the sensor logs before she was interrupted by the belated arrival of the Bajoran Militia. Quark and Jake were left to confuse the hell out of the guards while Ziyal went to find her father.

She reached the quarters Odo's logs indicated and rang the door chime. She had expected to find a guard in front of the door, but there was no one around, and she began to wonder if she was in the right place. Ziyal did know the station well enough not to lose her way, and the door control certainly bore the right identification code. All the same, it was a long time before the door opened.

Kira answered the door and stared at Ziyal with undisguised amazement. The young woman was surprised to find the major was wearing no makeup, but considering all the strange things that were going on today, she didn't think too much of it.

^Ziyal... wha-, what are you doing here?^ asked Kira, visibly flustered.

^Nerys, is my father here? I- I wanted to speak to him,^ started Ziyal, but her voice trailed off as she looked into the room. There was a Cardassian armour on the floor near the window.

Kira turned and followed her gaze. She flushed bright red when she saw what Ziyal was looking at. ^I... think you had better come in,^ she said hesitantly.

^I don't understand,^ said Ziyal as she entered. For one horrible moment, she thought something dreadful had happened to her father. She knew he was not wont to part with his armour without a good reason.

^I wasn't quite myself...^ started Kira, as if that answered the question in Ziyal's pale eyes.

^Then who were you?^

Both women turned to find Dukat standing in the doorway to the bedroom. His pose and attitude were as formal as they could be considering he was dressed only in his uniform trousers and vest. The dark material of the top revealed the ornate skin on his arms and the top of his chest and back. Ziyal just stared at him, the beating of her heart making her speechless and motionless. Seeing him like this brought back memories of the time they had spent together on the Groumall, when they used to eat together in his quarters, discussing any subject that came to mind, be it his exploits in the old Cardassian military, or more general topics of love, life and the pursuit of happiness. She had forgotten how handsome he was.

{Father,} she began, taking a step towards him, before his chilling glare stopped her in her tracks. She felt as though she should wither up and die. He still hated her. Nothing had changed, all her fears were confirmed. He didn't love her.

^Dukat!^ snapped Kira.

He paid no attention to the major. He continued to stare at Ziyal, though the look in his grey eyes softened as he watched her. Beneath those half-caste protuberances and ridges was a face he had known so well, the features of the woman he had loved more than any other in his life. He could exile Ziyal, refuse to see her, perhaps even kill her if circumstances made it necessary. But as long as she looked at him with the eyes of Tora Naprem, he knew he could never hate her.

{Ziyal,} he said softly, conscious that his face and voice betrayed every nuance of his affection for this stubborn, irritating, beautiful young woman.

Ziyal stayed still for a while, stoic, composed, only the slight rocking of her body a subtle sign of the emotions inside her. But then exhaustion, relief and the strain she had been under since the previous day broke her self-control and she closed her eyes to stop the tears from falling. It was an unbelievable weakness to be behaving like this, just because her father the dictator deigned to pronounce her name. Fathers were to be respected and obeyed, not adored so desperately -- that was an emotion for lovers, the emotion she tried to channel into her relationship with Garak. But it wasn't Garak she needed. It was Dukat.

Unable to restrain her feelings anymore, she burst into powerful sobs, and would have sunk to the ground if he hadn't caught her. She felt the strength of his lean arms holding her up, and leant her cheek against his shoulder, where the thin strap of his vest broke the bumpy progression of his neck cartilage.

{Oh, my baby, what am I going to do with you?} She felt his voice vibrate from his chest to hers, and her sobs subsided in the comfort of his arms.

{I was so worried,} she hiccuped, once her breathing was closer to normal.

{I know,} he said gently. {It's all right, my darling. Everything's going to be all right.}

For some reason, she believed him. Her rational mind knew it wasn't going to be all right. Even though she was so happy to be with him now, to feel the comfort of his arms around her body, hear the regular thumping of his heart through the veins in his neck, she knew this wouldn't last. No matter how much she loved him, and that was as much as she had loved anyone, she knew she could not be with him. She could never follow him to Cardassia, to be the Dictator's daughter, decked in finery and covered in compliments, while the whole Empire vilified her behind her back. The love of one man could not make up for the contempt of an entire race. But the love of this man was just enough to calm her agitated emotions.

{It will be all right,} he repeated, and though he had no more power to change their tragic fate than she had, she did believe him. She smiled at herself for being so easily soothed by those automatic words. Simply because her father had uttered them.

xxxviii.

The crew in the Operations centre watched as the starship Euskadi approached on the viewscreen. Sensors indicated the Cardassian/Dominion task force had split up again, leaving only the Vejal and two Jem'Hadar vessels to go on towards the station. The captain of the Euskadi had presumably explained some of the particulars of the situation to the Dominion, and though the Cardassians had probably been looking forward to a shot at retaking the station, it was like Weyoun to take a prudent approach to the situation.

The Vejal and its escort were still approximately an hour away, and the staff on Deep Space Nine relaxed perceptibly in the knowledge that there were now three Bajoran cruisers and a Starfleet vessel to protect the station. They were still waiting for the Euskadi to come within range of the communicator when Bashir came to join them.

"Julian!" exclaimed Dax, once he was close enough for the translator to work. "What are you doing still up at this hour?"

"I was researching the nanite problem," he answered, though the Trill noticed he was a little shifty-eyed. "I was on my way back to my quarters, but I saw that ship through a porthole. I thought I'd come over and see what's going on."

"We found out why the nanites disabled the comm systems," started O'Brien.

"Dravium, right?" said Bashir. He smiled weakly as O'Brien nodded. "I see great minds think alike. Have you found out who designed these nanites? Was it a Dominion plot?"

Dax shook her head. "Apparently not. According to the Bajorans, that starship is supposed to have the answers to all our questions."

"I can't wait for it to get within range," said O'Brien. "Whatever the reason for all this mess, it had better be good! Ensign, how long before the Euskadi is within communications range?"

"Six minutes, sir."

O'Brien gave the ensign an exasperated look, but let the "sir" pass. He turned back to Bashir and asked, "How is Captain Sisko doing? Or have you sent him back to bed?"

"No," answered the doctor, shaking his head. "I gave him a sedative and let him sleep in the Infirmary. He was stable when I left him."

"And what about Garak?" said Dax with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

The twinkle faded as Bashir shot her a murderous look. "Garak was infected by the nanites," he said sharply. "I gave him a painkiller for the headache and sent him back to his quarters."

The Trill's expression softened as she realised there must have been something more to Garak's presence in the Infirmary than a simple case of nanites. She longed to ask the doctor what had happened and to proffer advice or counselling if desired. But that would have to wait until she could get Bashir alone.

"Do you have any idea what happened to Dukat?" asked O'Brien, who had apparently missed the profound meaning of this exchange. "Starfleet and the Dominion will want to see him when they get here."

Bashir shook his head. "No, but Garak must know."

"Yes," agreed Dax. "Ensign," she said to one of the Starfleet staff. "Go to Garak's quarters and see if he can tell you where Dukat is being kept. Bring Dukat here once you've found him."

The ensign was still on his way out of the Ops centre when Dukat's communicator came to life.

"This is Captain Shelby of the Euskadi. Come in, Deep Space Nine," said a female voice. O'Brien smiled with recognition as Dax leant over the device to answer the hail.

"Lieutenant Commander Dax here. We hear you have come to solve our little problem with the nanites."

"Yes," answered the captain. "We would like to beam aboard with the necessary equipment. We will explain all when we get there."

When Captain Shelby did beam into Ops, Dax exchanged a surprised look with Bashir and O'Brien. The person with her was a Romulan.

xxxix.

Dukat was sitting in the chair Kira had occupied earlier, and his daughter was sitting on his knee. The gul wasn't used to such displays of affection from his grown-up children; certainly none of his other daughters would have wrapped themselves in his arms so readily. But Ziyal had always been special. Special and, very, very precious.

She was all he had left of Naprem, except for some pictures and lots of memories. He relaxed in the chair and let his mind wander along half-forgotten recollections. The rain-drenched roads of Netapka, her little apartment in the capital, the warmth of Terok Nor, so many nights of laughing, and talking, and making love. There was a time, he remembered, when he had been truly happy.

He sighed and kissed the smooth skin above Ziyal's half-formed meshavar. The girl was probably dozing; she sighed drowsily and moved into a more comfortable position in his arms, tilting her head up to smile at him. She seemed about to say something, but was interrupted by an involuntary yawn which forced her jaw open.

Dukat stifled a responding yawn and glared at her reproachfully, as if blaming her for making him feel tired. In fact, he *was* tired anyway. The last few hours had been exhausting, from his stunning to his bizarre 'interrogation' by Garak... to his unexpected seduction by Kira. Though Ziyal's eyes were still on him, he couldn't repress a very self-satisfied grin as he remembered this last event. To think Major Kira was this very moment having a shower in the next room! He still had it in him after all.

{What's so funny?} asked Ziyal, this time covering her mouth as her tired body yawned for more air.

He chuckled gently. {I was just thinking what an interesting day this has been.}

Ziyal frowned. {It hasn't been so interesting here. This translator business put everyone on edge.}

{Ah yes,} he nodded. {Major Kira didn't seem to know what was causing that.}

Ziyal looked a little more awake as she started to explain what she knew. {Jake Sisko said it was due to little robots called nanites. They thought you might have planted them to disable the station.}

{Little robots?} repeated Dukat, straightening up. {The Dominion doesn't use robots to disable military installations. But I seem to recall the Romulans were quite good at that sort of thing. Whoever is responsible, it is a very good idea in a place like this.}

{So you're not responsible... are you?} she queried, her wide grey eyes fixed on his.

{No. Do you really think I would resort to sabotage?}

{Yes,} she answered frankly.

He looked at her severely for a moment, and then let his expression relax. There was no point lying to her on such a trivial matter.

{Hmm. You're right, I would if I had to. And the Dominion is very good at infiltration and sabotage. But no, I have nothing to do with this.}

His mind brought up the memory of the very first thing his Dominion allies tried to do after his coup, and he shuddered involuntarily. How could they even have considered blowing up the Bajoran sun? Never in his entire life had he been so thankful for the Defiant -- without it, he would have lost both his daughter and his former home.

Still, things had worked out for the best in the end, event upon event unfolding in the usual haphazard way and leading him to this point in space and time, when he could hold his precious daughter in his arms, while still basking in the memory of Kira Nerys' sweet kisses and sighs. There was no point feeling guilty about things that had never happened.

Ziyal seemed to accept his protestation of innocence and snuggled up more comfortably. At least, it was probably more comfortable for her than it was for him. She was a lot heavier now than she had been when he used to hold her on his knee as a child.

{Tell me, Ziyal,} he said, after another pause. {Odo said you were attacked on the Promenade today. What happened?}

He felt her body heave as she sighed. {It was nothing, Father,} she said.

{Someone attacked you, and you call that nothing?}

{He didn't attack me. He just called me names and then said he was sure Major Kira would capture you if you beamed aboard the station. And he was right, wasn't he?}

{Hmm. What names did he call you?}

She pulled away slightly, and he released his hold on her. She sat up straight and leant the small of her back against the arm rest.

{It doesn't matter, Father. He didn't hurt me... I've known worse.}

He felt a pang of intense sorrow when she said this. He should have been able to protect her, to keep her away from all the horrors the universe could inflict on a young woman. But he had been powerless to stop people from hurting his little girl. It was easy to say there was nothing he could have done when she was on the Dezaria planet and he didn't even know where she was, but he knew in his heart that he should have kept her with him. Sending her to Lissepia had been a mistake seven years ago, and leaving her on Deep Space Nine was just a repetition of that error.

He put his arms around her and hugged her tenderly.

{My poor, sweet little girl. I won't let it happen again,} he promised passionately. {Come with me to Cardassia and I will make sure no one can ever hurt you again.}

{And how would you do that?} she asked, though she kept her face buried against his chest. {They hated me there. I never want to go back.}

{They don't love you here, either. What if that man hadn't just insulted you? What if he had touched you? If he --} He didn't continue; he had no desire to mention any of the other things the man might have done to her. {I should never have abandoned you like this. I should have forced you to come back to Cardassia with me. They wouldn't dare harm you now, and you could--}

Ziyal lifted her face towards him and shook her head gently.

{No, Father. It's not that simple...} she started, biting her lip before continuing in a passionate voice he remembered well. {I do love you, Father. You mean more to me than anyone else in the universe. If there was just you and me, then I would gladly follow you anywhere. But we're not alone, and we can't always be together. When we were living on Cardassia, I was happy when I was with you, but as soon as you were gone, I was completely alone with the hatred of the people around me. Your servants, your family, the people I passed in the street all looked at me with such loathing it made me sick to my stomach.}

The memory made him sick to his stomach too, and he shifted uncomfortably under her weight. She was right; he certainly hadn't been successful in protecting her during the short time they had spent together on Prime. And although he was now the unchallenged master of his race, he knew it would be a long time before he could change the way people thought.

Ziyal must have seen the pain on his face, because she stroked his cheek gently.

{I am so happy when I'm with you,} she repeated, {but when you're not around, I need to be with people who can look at me without hatred and prejudice. Not because you've ordered them to, but because they sincerely want to. And that is what I have found on this station. The Bajorans may hate me, but Nerys doesn't. Odo and Quark have always been kind to me, and the Starfleet personnel treat me the same as anyone else. I have friends here and on Bajor. For the first time since my childhood, I have people I can talk to.}

He noticed she had deliberately avoided talking about Garak. He knew she didn't want him to get angry and was trying to avoid that dangerous topic, but he couldn't help remembering that the main reason she had refused to come with him to Cardassia all those months ago was Elim Garak.

{Is it because of him?}

{No,} said Ziyal shortly.

She pulled back again, and glared at him in a way which broke his heart. He remembered that expression in a smooth sallow face, fine dark eyebrows knitted in anger, thick brown lips drooped in disdain -- it was the expression Naprem had used when she was angry at him and preparing for an argument. An expression he had never been able to resist.

So, instead of questioning her about Garak, as he had planned, he smiled benevolently and kissed her cheek.

{I've really missed you,} he admitted, his husky voice barely above a whisper.

He promised himself that the day would come when he would be reunited with Tora Naprem's daughter for good. And if she would not come to live with him, perhaps he could come and live with her. If his Dominion troops persuaded the Federation to leave the station, he could quite imagine himself back here in his home of ten years, with Ziyal and Kira Nerys to keep him company. He smiled at the daydream. But after all that had happened tonight, who was to say what wonders the future held?

His smile disappeared abruptly when the door chime rang. It took him a second to react, but then he pushed Ziyal off his knee and the two of them stared at the door, unsure what to do. It was a moment before Kira came out of the bedroom, hastily towelling her hair dry with one hand as she struggled to do up the buttons of her blouse with the other. She looked Dukat over, and then ordered, ^Go and get dressed, you,^ as she threw the replicated towel into a corner.

Dukat silently picked up his armour and went into the bedroom with Ziyal.

xl.

"So all this was a *mistake*?" exclaimed O'Brien. Two sleepless nights had put him in a very bad mood, and he was ready to throttle both Shelby and the Romulan.

Their meeting had started off pleasantly enough, with Shelby and O'Brien exchanging some reminiscences of the notorious Enterprise-D, while Bashir introduced Dax to Professor Kebor, whom he had met at Marina Prime. In fact, it wasn't until Kebor started to explain he was the one responsible for the nanites that O'Brien's temper took a turn for the worse.

The professor nodded gravely in response to O'Brien's outburst. "A few years ago, before I defected, the Tal'Shiar experimented with the idea of using nanites to sabotage enemy equipment. I was one of the scientists working on the project. We bought some Federation-built nanites from Niberite traders and tried to reprogram them so they would destroy key components in enemy vessels. We encountered numerous setbacks, including the fact the only component we could program these nanites to eat specifically was dravium. There was no way to target weapons or defensive systems without causing hull-breaches and other undesirable effects."

"I can imagine," said O'Brien, calming down a little.

"Later, the government was pressuring us to come up with weapons to counter the Dominion. The Tal'Shiar abandoned the nanite project completely, since the Dominion don't use dravium at all."

"Yes," agreed Dax. "That's how we were able to contact the Bajoran fleet using Dukat's communicator."

"Who would have thought the day would come when we might be thankful that Dukat works for the Dominion?" said Bashir a little grimly. "But how did these nanites you designed for the Romulans find their way onto my runabout?"

"When I defected to the Federation," started Kebor, "I took some of the engineered nanites with me. It was one of the conditions of my defection, in fact..." He cast a cautious glance at Shelby before continuing. "I have continued to work on nanorobotics for the Federation, and then I was asked to participate in the conference on Marina Prime. Though I didn't use my dravium-eating nanites as demonstration, I did bring some along to work on during the symposium. Unfortunately, a couple of them escaped..."

"Nanites tend to do that," remarked O'Brien.

"...And found their way onto Dr Bashir's runabout," concluded the Romulan, trying his best to look contrite.

Shelby took over the explanation. "It wasn't until Professor Kebor noticed his nanites were missing that we realised the danger, and by then Dr Bashir had been gone for two days. We tried to contact DS9 this morning, of course, but when we got no response to our hails, Starfleet decided to send the Euskadi to explain the problem and bring you the solution."

Kebor pointed to the device they had brought with them. "This is what you might call a nanite-trap. It emits the same low-level frequency as dravium, and once the nanites are inside, they are subjected to gamma radiation which renders them inoperative. I designed it in case something like this happened."

"As far as repairing the damage is concerned," said Shelby, "we have a team on board the Euskadi who specialise in the maintenance and repair of communications and translation circuits. They will come and assist you in making the station operational again. We estimate it will take about a week to reinject dravium into all the circuits."

Dax looked at the device and nodded. "So, now we have that problem sorted out, all we need is to find Dukat and give him back to the Dominion."


	11. Chapter 11

"Chimène:   Va, je ne te hais point  
Rodrigues:                        Tu le dois  
Chimène:                                    Je ne puis" (*)  
\-- Corneille, "Le Cid"

(*) Go, I do not hate you -- You must -- I cannot.

xli.

Kira took a deep breath before ordering the door to open. Garak walked in straight past her. ^Major, your time is up,^ he said jovially, taking in her dishevelled appearance with obvious amusement. ^The Dominion have sent a task force and are demanding that Dukat be handed back to his people. Starfleet and the Bajorans are anxious that you release him immediately. I hope you made good use of this past hour.^

She felt her face flush with rage as his eyes swept over her body again. So much for her hope that what had passed between her and Dukat would remain a secret. Though she wasn't sure that Ziyal had put two and two together -- there were times when that girl was as unfathomable as Garak himself -- she could tell Garak had sussed out what she had been up to. How could she have been so stupid as to make love to Dukat?

The door to the bedroom slid open and Dukat came out, still strapping on his cuirass. Garak's eyes widened in surprise as he saw Ziyal.

{I see this is quite a family reunion,} he remarked, his face now as calm and impassive as usual.

Ziyal handed Kira her uniform top, and the two women watched as Dukat stalked haughtily over to stand a couple of meters away from Garak.

{Yes,} said Dukat, a tired smile curling his thin lips. {Not something you will ever know, of course.}

{No, probably not,} admitted Garak, apparently unflustered. {But then I must admit I have very little use for that sort of thing. I never did comprehend how one could place family above one's duty to the State anyway.}

{It's called love... you wouldn't understand.}

^Right you two, that's enough,^ snapped Kira, reluctant to try her tongue at Kardasi now that she was so tired. ^You can trade insults the next time you meet.^

Garak smiled unpleasantly. {Oh, I look forward to trading more than insults with Dukat the next time we meet.}

Dukat grinned and tilted his head to one side in a typical expression of sardonic amusement. {It seems eradicating my family has been your life-long ambition, Garak. You really should look for another hobby.}

Kira huffed in irritation, and was about to tell them both to shut up, when Ziyal intervened. {Father, please...}

Garak cast a disappointed glance at her. {I suppose this means the two of you are reconciled.}

{Garak, he *is* my father,} said Ziyal defensively.

{Yes. Most unfortunate. Still, I'm glad to know you made such good use of your capture, Dukat,} continued Garak, casting a meaningful glance at Kira. {Though I am most disappointed in you, major. At least Ziyal has an excuse.}

{Garak!} said Ziyal sharply.

{Hmm,} started Dukat. {I take it your encounter with the good doctor did not go so well.}

{Father!}

^Right, I've had enough of this!^ declared Kira. ^Since your ship is here, Dukat, I suggest you return to your Dominion friends. As to you, Garak, you can settle your scores some other time. Now, everyone out!^

Kira made her way purposefully past Garak and stood in the doorway to keep the door open. After a moment's hesitation, Garak walked out into the corridor, followed closely by Ziyal. Kira looked expectantly at Dukat, but he stayed right where he was.

^Major, may I speak with you?^ he asked calmly.

^No,^ she snapped, acutely conscious of Garak and Ziyal, who were watching them intently from the corridor.

Dukat observed her in silence for a moment and then looked at his daughter and his enemy before bringing his eyes back to the major again. Kira felt her pulse quicken as she understood the question in his gaze, but with such an audience, there was only one answer she could give. She turned her back on him and stepped out into the corridor.

Before she realised what was happening, Dukat had seized her arm to pull her back into the quarters. {If you'll excuse us,} she heard him say as the door closed automatically.

xlii.

Garak watched the door close and let some of his contempt appear on his face.

{...And the mighty Gul Dukat yet again places his personal desires above any considerations of State or security...} he muttered, before seeming to remember Ziyal's presence. He looked at her and turned on his usual calm smile. {I'm sorry, my dear. I think the strain of these last few hours is beginning to get to me. I must be getting old.}

She rolled her eyes gently at that idea and smiled benevolently. He softened his well-trained mask into an expression of sincere affection and offered her his arm.

{Well, since you're still speaking to me in spite of everything, I suppose we could make our way to Ops,} he suggested as she slipped her arm in his.

{Shouldn't we wait for Father and Major Kira?}

Garak looked at the door with amusement and steered Ziyal down the corridor. {No, my dear. Since your father didn't have the grace to sort out his personal problems at a later date, I think we might as well leave them to it. In the meantime, we can announce their imminent arrival to everyone in Ops.}

The young woman looked behind her, as if half expecting her father to come out after them. When he didn't, she sighed and let Garak lead her towards the turbolift.

{Who is 'everyone in Ops'?} she asked as they reached the lift.

{Lieutenant Commander Dax, Chief O'Brien and a couple of people from Starfleet, I believe. It seems Starfleet has sent a ship to solve this nanite problem we've been having. I suppose one can forgive them for being a good twenty-six hours late, provided they get the job done now they're finally here...}

Ziyal grinned at him, her eyes bright with admiration. He was surprised to find that, after this stressful evening, he found her regard most comforting. At least there was one person on this station who appreciated him.

His mind reviewed the events of the last few hours, and particularly the brief time he had spent in the Infirmary. Though he knew he should not have revealed so much of his inner self to Bashir in the first place, he couldn't help feeling some bitterness at the doctor's rejection. He wondered if Ziyal had been as affected by his own rejection the previous night and smiled at the parallel. It was unfortunate that matters of the heart didn't always go as they should.

He told himself there was nothing to regret. He could always blame his lack of control on the nanites, and he knew his years of training would ensure the doctor would not be subjected to any more embarrassing displays of affection. As to Ziyal... he would see how things developed.

{Did Dax and O'Brien send you?} she asked.

{More or less. They sent a young man to ask me where Dukat was. It seems your father's Dominion friends were getting concerned about him. They obviously don't know how well he has been treated. Especially by Major Kira,} he couldn't help adding. Though it had disgusted him earlier, he now found the thought of Kira and Dukat together rather amusing.

Ziyal guffawed. {I certainly didn't think Nerys liked Father that much.}

Garak was embarrassed by Ziyal's reaction. {A father has no right to behave like that in front of his daughter,} he said shortly.

{You sound like Quark,} she teased. {Just because he's my father doesn't mean he can't enjoy himself. Besides...} She bit her lip with a tender smile, apparently brought on by a pleasant memory. {You know Nerys was with Father when they saved me. Well, I -- when I first saw them, I thought she was his girlfriend! The idea stayed in my mind for some time.}

Garak smiled. {I doubt Major Kira would have liked that idea at the time.}

{I don't really think she'd like the idea now, either.}

{She *did* look rather embarrassed,} he agreed. {And given a woman of her temperament, I wouldn't mention it, if I were you.}

Ziyal nodded and there was a silence before she spoke again. {You really hate my father, don't you? I mean, I already knew that... Everyone knows that. I know why my father hates you; he never forgave you for the execution of my grandfather and what happened to his family afterwards. But what did he do to you to make you hate him so?}

{That, my dear, is a very long story,} he said airily.

{One which you don't want to tell me?}

{Not at all. I will tell you all about it someday. That is, if you're not leaving the station,} he added.

{I'm not leaving,} she said simply.

{Ah... but you are reconciled with your father?}

She smiled happily. {Yes, I am. We had a little talk, and it cleared up some things for me. It's funny... I guess I have the nanites to thank for that.}

{Well, I'm glad they profited to someone,} he said calmly, as the turbolift reached Ops.

xliii.

Kira dropped her uniform top as Dukat pulled her back into the room.

^What the hell do you think you're --^ she started, but he pushed her against a bulkhead and kissed her before she could continue. ^Let go of me!^ she ordered breathlessly the minute his lips left hers.

^Shh,^ he hissed, releasing her. ^I just wanted to say goodbye to you properly.^

^Oh, how *romantic*,^ she said sarcastically, annoyed at him for making such a show in front of Garak and Ziyal. The door was now closed, but she was embarrassed to think they both knew why Dukat had pulled her back. How dare he behave like that? And in front of his own daughter, too!

^Yes, I think it's quite romantic,^ he said, apparently choosing to take her remark at face value. He stroked her wet hair gently and Kira felt her anger abate somewhat. He did have quite a nice smile... and the touch of his hands was quite pleasant... for a Cardassian. But the last thing she wanted was to be thinking thoughts like that when they were about Gul Dukat. She decided to blame the night's events entirely on the nanites.

^Look, Dukat, about what happened tonight...^ she started, before realising that sounded like a line out of the bad romances Odo liked to read.

His gaze hardened. ^I see, this is where I get the 'it never happened' speech, is it? I obviously overestimated your originality, major.^

She pulled away angrily and went to pick up her uniform top. When she straightened up again, she found he was still standing in the same place, leaning against a bulkhead with a very sad expression on his face. She wondered if he rehearsed these expressions of his for maximum effect, or if he just had a natural gift for communicating his moods with a subtle change in his ashen features. Either way, the sadness in his eyes made her heart sink.

^Dukat, what am I supposed to say?^ she asked, though she didn't want to know the answer. She sighed and added, ^This really isn't the time to discuss this.^

^You know there will never be a better time, major.^ There was a spark of hope in his eyes as he moved closer to her and helped her put on her jacket.

^You have to go back to your ship,^ she told him, trying her best not to shiver as his hands brushed against her.

^I must say, this has been a very pleasant visit,^ he announced, gently turning her towards him. Trust him to say something smug like that, she thought as he continued. ^You are...^ He hesitated, and a happy smile lit up his grey features. ^You're the best lover I've had in a long time.^

Great. That was his idea of a compliment, to tell her she was one of a long list of conquests? And she had actually, *willingly* made love to this man? At least she could blame her weakness on the nanites. Those little pests had a lot to answer for.

She pulled away from him and opened the door, too angry to even attempt an answer. He followed her out into the empty corridor, and remained silent as they made their way towards the nearest turbolift. She wondered vaguely where Garak and Ziyal had gone to, and why it was Garak who had come to get Dukat, and not some Starfleet officer. But the main question in her mind was what she and Dukat were going to do next.

She could pretend nothing had happened, but that could only ever be a pretence; the memories would remain in her mind, no matter how much she denied them to the outside world. That was bad enough. But worse still was the knowledge that those memories were shared by *Gul Dukat*. She cursed the nanites again and swore she would kill whoever had created the little demons if she ever came face to face with them.

Dukat remained silent until they reached the turbolift, but then, he seized her arm and turned her towards him again.

^Major... I... I don't know what to say to you,^ he exclaimed irritably. ^Why is it every time I try to compliment you, you get so offended?^

^Maybe it's because your compliments are so offensive,^ she snapped, pulling her arm out of his grasp.

^And what was wrong with that particular one?^

She stared at him in exaggerated astonishment. ^You really can't see it, can you? It never occurs to you to consider what other people might think when you're showing off. Do you think I enjoy being told I compare favourably to your past mistresses?^

^What? I never said that. I meant...^ He stopped as they got into the lift. She turned away from him, intent on ignoring whatever excuse he chose to come up with. ^I meant... Blessed Prophets, major, do you think this happens to me all the time? I just wanted to...^

She remained as rigid as ever, but because she knew he couldn't see her face, she allowed herself a little smile as she waited for him to say it.

^I'm sorry...I just wanted to thank you,^ he admitted finally.

There was nothing exceptional in the admission, but she knew Dukat wasn't in the habit of thanking people, regardless of what they did for him. He usually just took it for granted that any favour he received was deserved, and therefore required no thanks. Her temper died down again as she realised his apology was a measure of how much he valued her good opinion. It didn't make her like him any better, but it went some way towards tempering the regret she felt at what had happened.

^Was that really so hard?^ she asked, turning back towards him with a slightly more amenable expression.

His face, which had been apologetic and worried, lit up with a bright smile. He didn't answer her, but just caressed the side of her face again. She knew immediately what his intention was; it was spelled out clearly in the earnest expression on his face, and the way he was slowly edging his way towards her. His fingers slid around to the nape of her neck, and he moved closer to place his lips on hers. She wondered if this was the shape of things to come, if every time she said something vaguely kind to him, he would take it as an invitation for a kiss.

As he broke the kiss, the turbolift drew up out of the elevator shaft and onto the upper level of the Ops centre. Kira looked around her with acute embarrassment, sincerely wishing she hadn't accompanied Dukat. She remembered that her hair was still wet and she wasn't wearing any of the makeup she usually applied to shield herself from the outside world. All eyes were on them, of course. Dax was there, as well as O'Brien, Bashir, Garak, Ziyal... some Starfleet people she didn't know, Bajorans she had assigned to night duty, and a Romulan who had appeared from the Prophets know where.

Dukat nodded politely to Dax as she handed him his communicator.

"The Vejal is standing by to transport you," she informed him.

"Ah, I take it you've been making good use of my communicator," he said grandiosely. "I'm glad to see Dominion technology has once again proved its usefulness..." He walked over to Ziyal, purposefully ignoring Garak, who was standing right beside her. "Goodbye, my dear. I promise I will come back to see you *very soon*."

He looked around at the Bajorans as if to check that the full implications of that sentence had sunk in. Satisfied with the impact he had had on his audience, he pressed his palm to Ziyal's. Kira was struck by the contrast between this formal gesture of affection, and the tearful scene she had witnessed earlier. Cardassians were decidedly good at compartmentalising their feelings and only showing those which were appropriate to the moment.

Looking very pleased with himself, Dukat went over to stand in front of the viewscreen, and then activated his communicator.

"Dukat to Vejal," he said. "One to transport."

As he waited to be dematerialised, he looked at Kira and smiled. She reluctantly returned the smile, berating herself yet again for her temporary lapse of insanity. She found it hard to believe she had been kissing this man only a moment earlier. Her heart suddenly froze in horror as that thought appeared in her mind. She was pretty sure Dukat had broken the kiss before they emerged from the turbolift shaft, but what if he hadn't? The thought was positively mortifying. *I'll kill him!* she promised herself.


End file.
